


A Perfect World

by Moonfairy96



Category: GOT7, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alpha Jeon Jungkook, Alpha Kim Namjoon | RM, Alpha Kim Seokjin | Jin, Alpha Min Yoongi | Suga, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Anal Fisting, Bottom Kim Taehyung | V, Bottom Park Jimin (BTS), Come Eating, Come Inflation, Emotional, Emotional Sex, Explicit Sexual Content, Facials, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Leader Kim Namjoon | RM, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Multi, Omega Kim Taehyung | V, Omega Park Jimin (BTS), Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Pack Dynamics, Past Abuse, Relationship(s), Romance, Scent Marking, Sexual Content, Slow Build, Strangers to Lovers, These tags are just the tip of the ice berg really, Top Jeon Jungkook, Top Kim Namjoon | RM, Vaginal Fisting, bts-centric, specific cw in the beg. notes of every chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28257024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonfairy96/pseuds/Moonfairy96
Summary: “Yes. Yes, I think someone’s tried scratching off a mating mark.”In a perfect world betas, omegas, and alphas are equal.But this world is not perfect, and Kim Namjoon learned the hard way that it never will be. Three years after a failed mass rebellion against conservative hybrids--one that left numerous people dead or orphaned--Namjoon has created his own utopia, one where his pack can live free of the biases and prejudices against the classes. But when Park Jimin, a defector from an uninhabited pack, shakes up the Kim Pack's status quo, bringing trouble along with him, Namjoon and his pack members must begin to face another reality: they aren't perfect either.(you've got minjoon, you've got vkook, you've got sope, and a mystery Jinship. What more could you want?)
Relationships: Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Kim Namjoon | RM/Park Jimin
Comments: 28
Kudos: 91





	1. Three Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! If you're reading this, WELCOME to my second AO3 fic. I am a perfectionist, and it's taken me MONTHS to feel good enough about this story (which has been sitting in my computer for MONTHS *sob*) to finally post it.   
>  So, this isn't anything like I've ever written before (in my AO3 world, and outside of it). Bear with me as I concoct a fictional universe, though much of the leg work has already been done for me (THANK YOU TO WHOEVER LAYED DOWN THE FRAMEWORK FOR A/B/O FICS. YOU THE REAL MVP). 
> 
> Basically, this world is a mashup of many canon and non-canon elements of A/B/O fics. I say that because I have taken the liberty of throwing in my own twists to better fit the story Im trying to tell. Now, I have a terrible time with keeping things short and simple, so although the plan is to have a final chapter count of 10...thaaaat may not be an accurate number (my last fic was tens of thousands of words & 10 chapters longer than I thought it would be). So hopefully, I have learned from my first experience and am better at projecting things, but who knows. 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Tags are difficult for me. I feel that they give away too much sometimes, so I have added the overarching ones now. For each chapter I'll give a sort TW about the contents as I continue from here (unless there is a pertinent tag ya'll feel like I MUST add, which please let me know if there is). 
> 
> Okay, I have rambled on for too long. Sorry about that! Get to reading. See you at the end. Hope you like this *gulps nervously*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Namjoon stumbles upon a helpless omega.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger/content warnings will be posted here for each individual chapter (it would be waaaay too many tags if i tag them all, and my stories tend to be pretty graphic or detailed). there are no warnings i can think of for this particular chapter besides what's already tagged

The massive black steel doors of the white-painted concrete building swing open upon Namjoon’s entry onto the premises, the scent of urgency and emergency wafting off him in spades. Surely enough, his pack has caught on to the distressed smell of an omega post-heat, one he has slung over his back as he races towards the Compound, and they move as one to prepare his entry into the building.

“Who is that?” Yoongi approaches him in human form when he’s mere feet from the entrance.

Namjoon’s wolf gives an uncertain growl in response. “ _Don’t know.”_

He comes to a halt just before Yoongi, lowers himself to the ground so the second in command can better reach the unconscious and dirty omega. As soon as the omega is in the other alpha’s arms, Namjoon’s salt-and-pepper fur recedes, bones crackling as he transforms into his human form.

Jungkook sprints out of the building then, a pair of shorts in hand.

“What happened?” he questions, nose crinkling at the smell of the omega as he’s carried past him and into the compound they call home.

Namjoon walks, talks, and dresses himself as he follows Yoongi’s retreating shadow. “I was mid hunt when I smelled him,” he explains emotionlessly. Jungkook falls into step next to him. “He was miles from my location, but his distress was so strong it reached me. Go inform the Head Omega. He will be her responsibility once Jin takes a look at him. If he’s still alive.”

“Yes sir.” Jungkook falls back and heads the direction they came from.

Namjoon continues a few feet behind Yoongi, breath held to keep the omega musk from attacking his senses. It was difficult enough reaching the compound without allowing his mating instincts to take over. He cannot risk losing control of himself in front of his pack.

The presence of the omega is strong enough that pack members begin emerging from their respective rooms, lining the halls to catch a glimpse of the mud and blood streaked body being carried through. Fellow alpha’s quiver and shrink back at the scent, while the omegas bare their teeth and growl. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to bring a strange omega into their home without forewarning, but the sight of the body had stricken panic in Namjoon; he fears it does not have long to live, and he wants to ensure it spends its final moments in a safe, clean environment.

Healer Jin awaits at the infirmary doors, masked, prepared. He nods in greeting of the pack leader, which Namjoon returns hastily as he follows Yoongi inside. Jin closes the door behind him, ensures it’s sealed shut before turning his attention to the body Yoongi deposits on one of the sterilized cots.

“Male omega,” Namjoon fills him in. “Smells like he’s just gone through a heat. Found him alone in the woods. Doesn’t look too well.”

Jin seats himself in a chair, rolls over to the omega’s side and begins cutting away at the grey tattered clothing that do not do much to spare his decency. “Either mask on and glove up, or exit, please,” Jin directs them as he tosses the clothes into a disposable bag, already knowing what their answer is going to be. The musk is too strong for any of them to spend too much time around. “And call for Hwasa. I’m going to need a hand.”

Yoongi exits without a word, the door making a suctioning noise as it seals shut again. Namjoon lingers, taking one last look at the beat up body before he heads for the showers.

It’s a small, frail thing that lies on the bed, covered from head to toe in dried blood and dirt. Its chest rises and falls in stuttered breaths as it struggles to breathe, and the leader feels a familiar achiness in his heart he has not felt in nearly three years. Three years since the Civil War ended, three years since he has seen a fellow wolf in a condition as sorry as this one. He had hoped he never would see one again, but alas their new world is not the perfect wolf friendly haven they thought they would have when all the fighting was over. No, it’s not perfect in the least.

“You just gonna’ stand there?” Jin says, strapping a heart monitor to the bruised omega’s bare chest. “The smell must be killing you by now.”

He sniffs the air instinctively, shivers slightly when the muddled smell of the omega reaches his nostrils. “Above all else, I smell cleaner and disinfectant. You do a good job keeping this room clean,” he compliments his hyung.

Jin smiles at the praise, removes the heart monitor before jotting down the numbers. “His temperature’s too low, skin is dry and scaly. He’s paler than the white of these walls. Exposure. Must have been out in the woods for a while before you found him. Good call bringing him here.”

“Thought he was dead,” Namjoon comments, backing away subconsciously, the smell of aged slick beginning to overpower the disinfectant. “Then I saw his chest moving. That was the only telltale sign. You think he’s going to make it?”

“When I can begin doing my job in peace, I’ll be able to answer that question.”

The older alpha crosses the room to the supply closet to the far left, begins grabbing at multiple liters of clear liquids. The vitamins and medication the omega will need.

Though Namjoon doesn’t take Jin’s aggressive demeanor to heart, he still says, “I sometimes think you forget who you’re talking to.”

Jin scoffs at this, hooking his right foot around the bottom of an IV pole and dragging it along to the side of the patient’s bed. “Forget? How could I ever, Kim Pack leader Namjoon.” He says it with such sarcasm, it almost makes Namjoon laugh. Almost.

One shower and a pair of clean clothes later, Namjoon is pacing outside the infirmary door, its seal tight enough that the smell of the injured omega does not infiltrate the building. Jungkook, along with a few other pack members, have taken it upon themselves to rid the main hall of the initial odor and ensure calm throughout the home. The halls have once again gone quiet, all members sheltering in their rooms as they wait on Namjoon to call a pack meeting.

Behind the infirmary doors is not so tranquil. 

Hwasa monitors the many fluids now hooked up to the malnourished looking omega. Jin, with a wet cloth, carefully cleans the body off, scouring carefully for any injuries. He’s already noted scraped feet and arms, the sources of the blood caked along the omega’s body, but nothing detrimental. The shock of its appearance was due mostly to the mud and a weight loss the healer is sure has to be a result of exposure. Its condition is reminiscent of a time hybrids had been on the run, sheltering anywhere that provided enough cover from human hunters. It’s not often someone looking like this turns up anymore. 

Hwasa joins him in cleaning the body off, using her own wet towel to wipe the omega’s face. It’s not a thorough cleaning; he will probably need one, maybe even two, baths before all signs of the wild are washed from him and he looks and smells like himself again. But even with this, her breath is taken away at the beauty that appears beneath matted hair and cakey mud.

“He’s so pretty,” she laments sadly, dragging her knuckles down one hollow cheek. “I wonder what caused him to be this way.”

Jin stops with his ministrations to take a look for himself. Behind the sunken eyes and pasty skin, there does lie someone breathtaking, and it breaks his heart to think of what this poor omega has been through. “His vitals are pretty weak,” he informs Hwasa, continuing his work on the patient’s feet. He picks up a pair of tweezers and leans in close to better see the splinters caught there. There are too many to count. “He might be out for some time, but with tender care I trust he’ll make some kind of recovery. It’ll be a while before he’s truly healthy.”

“What do you think happened to him out there?” Hwasa wonders, shaking her fire red hair from her face then resuming with the cleaning.

“No way to know unless he tells us. But he clearly wasn’t attacked.” That much the healer can surmise for now. The omega has clearly been running from something—or someone—but they never got to him, not that he can see at least.

“He probably got separated from his pack somehow,” she guesses anyway. She always is one to jump to conclusions. “Or they casted him out. I wonder what he did to deserve it.”

“Omega,” sighs Jin exasperatedly, pulling an uncomfortably long thorn from the heel of the patient’s right foot. He hates distractions while he works, doesn’t do well with conversation when he needs to focus on a patient. “Sounds like you need to step away for a moment. Why don’t you…”

“I’ll keep my mouth my shut,” she promises knowingly. Her silence doesn’t last long, however, because a few seconds later she adds, “Everyone will want to know what the hell is going on.”

“I’m sure Namjoon is drafting a mental speech as we speak.”

And Jin is not wrong. Outside the infirmary door Namjoon words then rewords his plan of action. Because one pack’s omega suddenly turning up at the compound of another is not a good look for them, and if the sight of their guest says anything it’s that he will not be able to move much on his own—let alone handle a trip—if he were made to find his way back home.

That is, if it was a wolf pack that he had been running from.

Besides, Namjoon is not known to be one to allow anyone—whether omega, beta, or alpha—to fend for themselves when they clearly cannot. His pack has been built on that basis, and just because it has been years since anyone new has been initiated, and just because they have fallen into a comfortable sense of family and security, does not mean he will give up on his morals now.

He leans back against the white painted walls, arms crossed over his chest.

What if this omega has no pack to return to? What if this pack rejects his initiation? What if another pack attacks them, misunderstanding his presence here? Worst of all, what if humans are after him, and they somehow trace him to the compound? No good can come out of humans being involved.

These questions cross his mind, amongst many others that will busy him until the situation is figured out.

A hand to his shoulder shakes him out of the spiral of concern he tends to fall into. He can’t help it. As a pack leader—as the person most responsible for the safety and wellbeing of his pack—a lot rides on his shoulders.

It’s Solar, the bombshell blonde and nurse Hwasa’s sister. She smiles up at him prettily with flirting eyes. “You look like you have too much on your mind,” she accurately observes.

He returns the smile, though it doesn’t truly reach his eyes. “You know me too well.”

“Well, I have been a part of the pack for nearly four years now. I should hope I know you.” She links an arm through one of his. “Walk with me?”

Namjoon is reluctant to leave his post, but in the hour he has spent pacing he’s learned nothing. And so he follows Solar down the hall and to the right, through another bright white hall that deposits them in the cafeteria.

Every member of his pack has had a hand in erecting their compound, their sanctuary. It was a project initiated just at the end of the war, when a truce between the humans and hybrids was reached, and a promise was made banning the hunting of hybrids. Although promised a normal assimilation into modern human society, wolves know where they belong, and so this particular pack set out on creating a bubble of their own on the outskirts of the forest they once called home. Not too far from familiarity, not too close to modern civilization. Far away enough from uncontacted packs that rejected both ways of life. It’s a meager building, architecture plain and rectangular, aesthetics a boring white. But it’s one the pack is proud of.

Solar doesn’t allow Namjoon to enter the cafeteria, pulls him into an open doorway instead, one he recognizes as her dorm.

The heavy scent of vanilla accosts him instantly, burns his lungs until all he sees, feels, and smells is Solar. Her hands are on his chest, massaging his pectorals wantonly. “You shouldn’t have gone out to hunt today,” she mouths against his neck, tempting pheromones drifting off from her pores and sinking into his.

Namjoon’s fingers instinctively move to her waist. As with any other omega, he is wary of touching her, fingertips barely brushing the skin her crop top exposes.

“I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Should’ve just spent the day with me.”

He leans his head to the side, giving her free reign to nuzzle against his neck and throat, scenting him. It hasn’t been long since his rut, yet her affections do something to ease the tension he has been feeling for weeks now. It’s as if his body has been sensing something terrible approaching, and only the clouding aroma of an omega has the power to ease his concerns. It’s too bad he can’t tolerate the smell of vanilla for too long.

“As much as I would have loved to,” he murmurs against her hair, breathing her in deeply despite himself. She really knows how to get his heartrate going, she does. He takes her gently by the arms and pushes her away. “I have responsibilities to attend to.”

She whines at that, a low growl in the back of her throat to express her disappointment. “Come on, Alpha. When are you gonna’ stop suffering through your ruts alone? Surely you miss this.” She licks right over his scent gland, sending his awakened muscles rippling beneath her touch. “I know I miss you.” She leans up to meet his lips, her red painted ones purring against his full ones. “Don’t you miss me?”

Solar’s forwardness has always been something he admired; she knows what she wants and she knows how to get it, leaves absolutely no room for questioning intentions or miscommunication. But that’s just the thing; he hasn’t missed her. Nor any of the other omegas in the pack, at least not in the ways they want to be missed by an alpha.

He pushes her away again. “You should check on Yoongi. He looked like he needed some stress relief earlier.”

She falls back on her heals, pouts at the suggestion. “I’ve already tried. He’s too tired,” she rolls her eyes. “I don’t get it. Four years with you guys, and I still don’t get it.”

Vanilla. It’s too potent of a smell, makes Namjoon sick when it gets too much.

“Don’t get what?” he asks absently, reaching for the door again, lungs begging for some fresh, unscented air.

His body relaxes the second he exits her room. It’s like walking out of a suffocating fog.

Solar follows him out, not at all perturbed by his reaction. This scene has occurred before, prompted him once to confess that her scent makes him gag sometimes. It was a bit of an overstatement, but not really. Otherwise, he knows he would have given in to her seductive ways easily, no questions about it.

“Alpha’s from my old pack would jump an omega the second one showed interest. The alpha’s here, they’ve got…” She waves her thin arms in the air, searching for the word. “They’ve got…”

“Too much self-control?”

“Exactly!”

Namjoon turns into the cafeteria bustling with people. Some of the older members wave at him as he passes by, the newer ones bow. It’s not a greeting he particularly subscribes to; his old pack had been all about submission, but that was back before the Civil War. Old habits die hard, he figures as he walks to stand at the end of the line waiting for their turn at the breakfast buffet.

Solar keeps up with his long strides. “Isn’t that the reason you defected from your old pack?” he asks. “For a change of pace?”

“Right,” she drawls slowly, thinking up an excuse. “But if I’d known I’d only ever get action during my heats, I never would’ve left.”

The ears of the young alpha in front of them redden. He turns around slowly, eyes wide at this revelation. “I-I can help you out with that, S-Solar,” Yugyeom offers bashfully.

Namjoon suppresses a smile. He knows Solar’s type, and Yugyeom—as alpha as he may look—is not it.

She strains a forced smile. “Noted.”

The cafeteria grows loud as more and more of the pack begin to arrive, the smell of fresh breakfast calling them out of their rooms. Namjoon packs his plate full, famished after his morning security check. He has rabbit again—the one protein they find an abundance of—along with steamed vegetables, rice, and cheesecake. He thanks the chefs, a diverse team of omegas, betas and alphas, and scans the room for an empty table. Spotting Yoongi sitting at the backmost table alone, he heads in that direction, leaving Solar to join her usual group of friends.

“Why do you always look so lonely?” Namjoon teases, scooting a chair out to join him.

“You’re just reading me wrong,” the second in command answers dryly. “I’m never lonely. I’ve always got you up my ass.”

“I love it when you say dirty things to me.”

At this, Yoongi’s spoon of plain rice freezes halfway to his mouth. “Don’t flatter yourself.” He shoves the rice in his mouth. “Wassup wit’ tha’ ‘mega?”

“No idea yet. Still waiting on an update from Jin.”

“You’ve got a plan.” It’s a statement, not a question.

“I’ve got multiple plans for multiple scenarios,” Namjoon confirms. “Just waiting to know what direction to take. You’ve been thinking about it, too?”

Despite being the leader, Namjoon rarely makes decisions on his own. There are too many in the pack for one person to make rational choices that benefit them all. He needs the feedback of his board to run a fair pack.

Yoongi also seems to have a plan, because he sets his spoon down, pushes his tray away, and presses his fingers together in thought. “If there’s a pack looking for him, we need to be upfront and clear about how he ended up here.”

“Agreed.”

“And if there is no pack looking for him, we need his story. We don’t need it to come back and bite us in the ass later on.”

“We’re thinking the same.”

“Of course, if he’s mated it’s a whole different situation.”

“What do you say we do if he is mated?”

Yoongi pulls the tray towards him again, tears at the rabbit meat to make it more digestible. “We let him back out there. When he’s healed and healthy enough, we need to let him go. Can’t have a mated omega running around the place without their mate.”

And though Namjoon cannot recall if he noticed a mating mark on the omega’s neck when he found him, back at the infirmary Hwasa has cleaned him up enough to check.

She stands over the still unconscious body, carefully scrubbing at the skin that only grows more and more beautiful as he gets cleaner. And her stomach drops.

“Jin,” she mutters, her voice carrying uncharacteristically quietly through the vast, fluorescent room.

Jin is changing out the IV drip, the boy’s frail body having already gone through one round of vitamins. “Hmm?” he hums distractedly.

“You need to see this.”

“One moment.” He finishes hooking the new bag to the needle in the patient’s arm and turns his attention to where Hwasa’s hand hovers over the omega’s neck. He blinks a few times in confusion, thoughts malfunctioning as he attempts to wrap his head around what he’s seeing.

“Do these look like scratch marks?”

He leans down to get a better look, blinks a few more times before realizing the gas mask he wears is in the way. Braving the hypnotizing scent of an improperly cleaned post-heat omega, he tears the mask away and levels his eyes with the clear marks on the patient’s neck. The unmistakable scent of morning dew travels up his nose, he breathes through his mouth only. “Definitely scratches,” he murmurs, taking in the fresh lines crisscrossing across the pale skin just over the omega’s scent gland. “Scratches, and a healed scar.”

“I thought so, too. Do you think…?” Hwasa begins to ask, but her question lingers ominously in the quiet room, afraid of being answered.

Jin gets it all the same. “Yes. Yes, I think someone’s tried scratching off a mating mark.”

The nurse exhales dramatically. She raises a gloved finger to her own neck, traces the bite marks there. “That’s a desperate, painful act. Why do you think…?”  
“I don’t think,” Jin says with finality, slipping the mask back on and stepping away from the sleeping body. “I just carry out my duties and don’t question the personal history of my patients. When he can talk, he will talk. If he wants to, of course.”

“Aren’t you just a bit curious?”

“Of course. It’s natural to be. But it has nothing to do with me, or you for that matter. The less you get involved with people, the less the reality of the world is bound to hurt you.”

Hwasa wishes she could be like him, wishes she is able to carry out her duties without growing attached. But she cannot seem to take her eyes off the sleeping beauty and fret that something bad, something terrible, has happened to him.

“Come on, Hwasa,” Jin urges, catching the empathetic glow of her amber eyes. “There’s nothing more we can do for him now. Let’s wash up and get something to eat.”

News of an unknown omega amongst them spreads rapidly throughout the compound. Making his way out of the cafeteria, Namjoon catches hushed conversations of curiosity, feels the burning glares of members as they watch his every move. Everyone wants to be filled in on the situation, wanting to know why an omega in that condition exists in this day and age, but he’s not ready to answer any of their warranted questions. And the pack members are too intimidated by their leader to approach him with any of their concerns.

They don’t need to, of course. He has been at this long enough to understand where their concern comes from, has fought and lived through the war like so many of them. Still, there will be no meeting, no decision making, until he has a clear enough picture.

Before heading to the common room on the other side of the building, he passes by the infirmary once more. His brother is not there to deny him access—the only person in this building who would dare to defy him—and so he slips through the door quietly.

The omega lays on the bed still, blanket settled just beneath his chin, clean enough now for a proper survey of his condition. His hair remains matted and tangled with dirt, his skin patchy here and there, but otherwise he looks much better than when Namjoon had found him. Through the haze of disinfectant, blood, nature, and aged slick, he catches a tone of the omega’s true scent. It remains too distant to pinpoint, however.

In the quiet solitude of the infirmary, he lets go of his stoic demeanor and allows himself to fret once more.

The Civil War had sprung up five years ago because of tensions between humans and hybrids. Namely, sport hunters had been going after the hybrids, crossing into their hidden lands and taking them out by the pack. Though not all packs were in alliance, majority agreed that they had a common cause to fight for, and thus began the Hybrid Uprising.

Humans had their weapons, but hybrids had their feral will to live, and the revolution proved deadly for both sides. But the war itself had truly begun when packs began turning against one another once their common enemy had been defeated.

With older and newer packs finally meeting, the differences in their ways of life began getting revealed. Not everyone was on board with how others chose to lead, or to the regulations some omega’s and beta’s were subject to, and so the battle shifted from being against humans to against their own kind.

It’s only natural in a society as individualistic as theirs that each pack would be run differently. But where one pack might see their methods as instilling order, another might see it as cruel and unusual control.

Namjoon is not one to question the regulations of other packs. He understands the order of their world, the differences in pack dynamics. Once upon a time, he did dream of more equal standards across the board, had even lead his own squad in the war, fighting alongside what was called The Resistance. But the resulting bloodshed and loss forced him to turn his back on that notion. The one thing he can do is provide his own fairly functioning environment, and leave other packs to function as their leaders saw fit.

Which is why this particular omega is a concern. Though during the warring years it wasn’t unusual to come upon lone alphas, betas, and omegas who needed a home, things have supposedly settled down since then. Every hybrid is to keep to their own pack, every pack to keep their members educated and responsible. The implications of a casted or runaway omega are not good. Whoever may be looking for him—if anyone is looking at all—might see his being here as a new act of rebellion. And by no means did Namjoon plan on being the leader who instigates another war.

By the afternoon, it’s meeting time, and the board members gather in the common room, sitting in one large circle. Namjoon is at the center, leading the meeting. Joining him is the Head Omega—Hyuna—the Head Beta—Jaebum—and the Head Alpha—Yoongi, amongst other members who hold roles necessary to help lead the pack. Healer Jin is one, Command Leader Jungkook another. Next to them sits Tactical Supervisor Jackson, Resource Manager Youngjae, Agricultural Director Taehyung, and Pup Services Coordinator Wheein.

It’s a monthly ritual, these meetings, where all the Heads gather to provide input on the ongoings of the Compound, and voice the people’s concerns and opinions. Today’s topic: breeding rooms.

“We don’t have enough,” Hyuna says right out the gate, the second Wheein—the last to join—takes a seat. “Many more beta’s have presented. The number of rooms was great for when we first built the Compound, but ten doesn’t cut it anymore.”

“I second that,” Yoongi raises a hand to speak. “My rut was last week, and when I asked to reserve a room, I was told they’re booked for the ‘foreseeable future’. It was even suggested that I go into the forest…”

Hyuna’s glare is deadly. “Where else would it have made sense for you to go?” she snaps. “Certainly not your room. That would’ve incited chaos.”

“I’m just saying,” Yoongi says dryly, returning the burning glare.

“Say less, Head Alpha, I beg of you.”

Namjoon clears his throat, calling everyone’s attention to him. He sits with his back straight, emotions unclear as he listens to this back and forth. They do it so the rest of their pack doesn’t have to.

“What I’m hearing is we need more breeding rooms. Or at least, more safe spaces to carry out heats and ruts.” Everyone around him nods. “Youngjae,” he calls on the Resource Manager. “Where do our supplies stand if we are to expand the building?”

Youngjae straightens up upon being referred to. “Of course, depending on how much you’re looking to expand, we should have enough for a project.”

“What if we were to take on multiple small projects?” He gets questioning looks from the rest. “During my security check this morning, when I came upon the distressed omega, I was able to see another pack’s community from the edge of our boundaries. Rather than a large building, they had multiple small ones, which I assume house families. I think that’s a beneficial direction to take as this pack expands.”

Wheein raises her hand to speak. “Then this building would serve as what?”

Namjoon shrugs. “Whatever we need it to serve as. Wheein, the pups need more space for their activities, is that correct? They’ll have a room dedicated just for them.” Wheein’s eyes brighten at the suggestion. “They can have multiple rooms even. One for sleeping, one for playing, one for learning. Does that sound like something that would make your department’s job easier?”

The PSC nods eagerly.

“And those without a mate or a family to stay with?” Jaebum speaks up. Of course, that would be his concern considering he speaks on behalf of beta’s.

Though Namjoon already has an idea, he asks, “What do you suggest?” He and the heads typically see eye to eye on most things, and sometimes he prefers for suggestions to come from them. So it doesn’t appear that he is not taking their opinions into consideration.

“If we’re gonna’ have personal spaces for families, then that would free up a lot of the rooms in the building. And the pups aren’t gonna’ need ‘em all. So, the main building remains a place where single beta’s—and omega’s and alpha’s—” he adds quickly, “to be housed.”

Namjoon nods once. “Does anyone disagree with that?”

There is always a devil’s advocate, and today it’s Jackson. “Where exactly are we going to fit these individual homes?” he questions with a raised hand. “My team needs the grounds to train, right Jungkook?”

Namjoon looks to Jungkook, his unofficial protégé. The younger alpha squirms in his seat at being unexpectedly put on the spot. “I mean…we could move our training deeper into the forest…”

Jackson rolls his eyes, not in the least surprised that the Command Leader would take his idols side. “Get rid of the trees, then.”

“We are not taking down any trees,” Namjoon shuts that down immediately. “We lose trees, we lose cover. And we lose prey.” And we debilitate our natural habitat, though that’s not a concern he knows most of them share.

Wheein’s hand comes up again. “There’s a clearing a few miles out. I usually take the pups there to let them roam around when they begin shifting. But if we dedicate one of the larger rooms for that, we wouldn’t need the clearing anymore.”

Namjoon turns back to Jackson. “Thoughts?”

“How many miles are we talking?” he wants to know. “I don’t want my fighters to get worn out before we even begin a training session.”

Wheein shrugs. “About…three miles, give or take.”

“That’s nothing,” Jungkook pipes in. “We can cover that much ground in two minutes if we’re shifted.”

When Jackson doesn’t seem to have anything to disagree to, Namjoon makes the call. “It’s decided, then. We begin construction on family homes, free up space in the main building, and relocate the training grounds.”

“The homes should have sealable doors,” Jin adds. “Otherwise they will be just as useless as the dorms.”

When everyone nods in agreement, Youngjae says, “I’ll send a call out for those who’d like to join in the construction.”

Namjoon nods once in thanks.

“What do members in heats and ruts do in the meantime?” asks Hyuna.

Yoongi snorts. “Find someplace in the forest,” he supplies sarcastically.

Before the Head Omega can lunge for the Head Alpha’s throat, Namjoon intercedes. “Though Yoongi jokes, I do believe it’s the best course of action until we can start placing families in homes.”

A collective groan and low murmur spreads through the room, but no one finds they can suggest anything more reasonable. Hyuna finds the need to add, “It’s the way things were before we had all this, anyway.”

And in true Yoongi fashion, the Head Alpha bites back. “If we keep excusing lack of advancement due to the fact that we had less before, or things were done this way before, we would never have reached where we are.”

“Do you have a remark prepared for everything that comes out of my mouth?” Hyuna screeches over the murmur that immediately dies down at the sound of her voice.

“When your mouth begins uttering more sensible things, then maybe I won’t. Until then, yes.”

“ _Enough_ ,” Namjoon thunders when the two Heads begin growling menacingly at each other.

The room still immediately, an awkward silence falling over them. Everyone besides Yoongi, Hyuna, and Namjoon looks bored. This isn’t anything they haven’t seen or heard before, and their behavior has gotten old, as it should considering this very argument is now three years old. Everyone secretly thinks they should fuck and get it out of their systems already, but apparently the sexual tension is palpable to all but them two.

Namjoon sighs heavily, exasperatedly, before getting back to the matter at hand. “Heats and ruts in the forest until houses are available. Moving on.” He rubs at his temples, a faint throbbing starting up. “Any updates from the three group leaders?”

It’s Hyuna’s hand that shoots up again, and Yoongi makes a show out of rolling his eyes. “I heard there’s a lost omega in the Compound. There have been rumblings about what that means…”

“It means nothing until we hear from the omega himself,” Jin says then, finally perking up to their conversation.

“I take it he’s still unconscious, then?”

“Yes, and I’m not sure when he will come to. But when he does, I’ll make sure to get any information I can out of him. His state isn’t so well, so even that could take time.”

“Let it take all the time in the world. Until then, I’ll inform the rest of the members of all that we know to keep their concerns at bay,” Namjoon says.

Jackson cocks an eyebrow. “ _Is_ there anything to be concerned about?”

Namjoon mulls over his words before speaking them, knows the key to maintaining calm Heads—and therefore calm members—is a carefully crafted response. “At this point in time,” he begins slowly, “there is no immediate threat on the Compound. But we should not fall into any false sense of security. I don’t think I need to spell out what the implications of this omega’s presence are.” They all nod solemnly. “Jackson, Jungkook, keep our fighters in shape, keep them on high alert. Jin, any new developments in the omega’s condition reach me before anyone else. As usual, I’ll keep the rest of you informed as best as I can.”

As is customary, Namjoon holds a pack meeting in the cafeteria to announce these new developments. The overall consensus over family homes is positive, one of the few decisions the general majority approves of. Last month, pack reaction had not been so agreeable. Namjoon had announced that everyone is to stick to rabbit as their primary source of protein for the time being, to attempt to preserve the larger game that has grown too afraid to venture onto their territory. Understandably, most were upset by this news.

Once the pack meeting ends, everyone breaks up into their respective groups to begin the work for the day. Youngjae gathers his people to begin planning the homes, Wheein rounds up the pups that need watching after, Taehyung and his group head for the greenhouse, and Jaebum and Jungkook lead the fighters outside to begin training. Namjoon does his usual rounds, checking in with every group to ensure they don’t need anything, and an hour or so later finds himself lingering outside the infirmary again.

Knowing Jin is inside, he knocks this time, waits to be let in. His hyung doesn’t like to be interrupted unexpectedly.

Seconds later, the sound of air whooshing out sounds as Jin breaks the seal, spare gas mask in hand. Namjoon slips it over his face before entering.

“How’s he looking?” the Leader asks, going to stand at the omega’s bedside. He looks to be breathing normally now, albeit still in bad shape.

Jin rolls in his chair, a favorite move of his, until he’s across from Namjoon. “Not so bad anymore. Vitals have quickly regulated. I expect he’ll be waking up soon. But I don’t think you should be the one to question him when he does.”

“Why’s that?”

Jin looks up at him incredulously. “Sometimes you can be a bit…unapproachable. And I don’t think that’s the atmosphere he needs to wake up to.”

Namjoon doesn’t take offence to this. “I noticed something peculiar when I came in earlier,” he says instead, crouching down to better see the omega’s neck. “There are scratches here, over his scent gland. They look purposeful.”

Jin is quick to reach for a magnifying glass, passes it to his younger brother. “Hwasa and I noted that, too. Look what’s been tried to get rid of.”

Namjoon’s eyes narrow before he accepts the magnifying glass, finding Jin’s vagueness suspicious. He holds the glass to the omega’s neck, exhales loudly when he sees what Jin is referring to. There are the unmistakable scars of pointed teeth in his flesh, fully healed beneath the fresh scratches. It’s clear that whoever had tried to rid the patient of their mating bond had tried hard; the skin over and around the scars is raw.

“Well,” Namjoon exhales again, handing the tool back. “That doesn’t bode well.”

“No, it doesn’t. So far only you, me, and Hwasa know. I don’t think we should tell the rest until he wakes and we hear what happened.”

“Is there any chance he might not remember?”

“His brain scans look normal, so I don’t think his memory is compromised. The main concern is how much he’ll be willing to divulge when we do start questioning him.”

That’s true. Most, if not all, packs are relatively secretive, their members just as well. And even if this omega talks, it will be difficult to assess how truthful he is.

“Let’s have Hyuna be the first to speak to him,” Namjoon tells the Healer, rising back up to his feet. Not only because she is also an omega and will therefore feel more trustworthy to the patient, but also because she has the manipulative personality to get things out of people, things they otherwise would not admit.

Jin agrees with this. “I’ll be spending the night in here with him, though, in case he wakes up while we’re all asleep.”

Namjoon peers down at his older brother, takes in his tired appearance. His sleep deprived eyes are red rimmed and watery, skin extra pale in the unflattering fluorescent light of the room. His hair is slightly disheveled, though at one point in his life he had taken great care of styling it. Despite all this, he’s as handsome as ever, and Namjoon feels the same pang of jealousy he once felt as a kid, when all the omega’s were after his then unpresented brother. Unlike the Leader Namjoon he is today, he wasn’t so popular back with their old pack.

Time and circumstances. They can really fuck with a person’s life.

“Have Hwasa spend the night in here. Take a sleeping pill, or two. Get some rest. You look terrible.”

“Always a flatterer. No wonder the female omega’s are all over you.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes at this. “They’re all over me because I’m the leader, not because of my great personality. Even in our fair society, there is still an abundance of unfairness.”

Jin’s eyes narrow at this. “Are you seriously complaining because omegas fall at your feet and beg you to mate them? I hope you hear how arrogant that makes you sound.”

“Oh, I’m not complaining.” In fact, as an unmated alpha, the attention of the mated and unmated strokes his ego. “I’m just saying a person’s status still matters too much, no matter how many times you try and drill it into people that we are all one and the same. I don’t have anything more or less to offer those omegas than any other alpha in this place. And yet…”

“And yet they fall at your feet and beg you to mate them,” Jin finishes with a smirk.

Namjoon can’t help but chuckle.

“Answer me this, baby brother,” the older alpha says then, leaning back in his chair. “If you enjoy the attention they give, why don’t you allow any of them to help you through your ruts when they offer?”

Ah, everyone’s favorite question. The difference is he doesn’t need to bullshit an answer because Jin is his hyung, and he knows Namjoon’s history better than Namjoon himself. So he doesn’t give his typical political response of, “Because as the Leader, I must carry out my duties with a clear and unemotional heart.”

No, he gives his brother the truth, which is that, “One can never run far enough away from their past.”


	2. Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more insight into some members of the Kim Pack, and the runaway's identity is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is slightly longer than the first, only 1k more. but as mentioned, the chapters will get ABUNDANTLY longer as the story goes on. i don't have an update schedule, but I plan on at least updating once a week. sometiiimes i can't hold back and will post earlier (like with this chapter). so if you're reading this a WIP, i appreciate u!!!
> 
> cw for some mentions of dubious consent, but it's not in detail.

Taehyung should be at the greenhouse, ensuring all the mechanisms are running correctly and helping his team gather the fruits and vegetables that have grown ripe. Instead, he stands underneath a large tree just outside the clearing a few miles away from the Compound, watching pups run around and giggle in glee as they shift underneath the burning rays of the sun. One of them—a small girl with black hair down to her waist—shifts into a tiny wolf with regal black fur and barks at a nearby boy. He runs crying towards Moonbyul, the Pup Services Coordinator’s assistant.

Another boy, this one slightly older, runs to the edge of the trees and shifts into a brown hued wolf. He doesn’t bother staying with the group, begins running circles around the perimeter of the clearing, obviously much more accustomed to the practice of shifting than the rest.

It’s subconscious, the way Taehyung’s hands rise to cradle his empty belly. There’s a light tugging just beneath his bellybutton. It’s a phantom sensation, but it speaks to his desires nonetheless.

Warm arms take him by the shoulder, wrap tenderly around the front of his chest. He had been too distracted to recognize the pine scent of his alpha as he approached.

“What are you doing here?” Jungkook whispers against the shell of Taehyung’s ear.

Though there is no point in lying—Jungkook can probably smell the sadness coming off him—Taehyung bluffs. “I finished checking on the greenhouse, wanted to see of Moonbyul needs any help with the pups.” He turns around in the alpha’s bulging arms to wrap his own around his neck. He pecks him once adoringly before asking, “What are you doing here?”

Jungkook casts a quick, tense glance the pups’ way before settling on Taehyung’s amber eyes. “Jackson wants me to survey the clearing, check if it’s large enough for the fighters to practice their skills. But I’m glad to catch you here.” A sly smile plays at the alpha’s lips. “Y’know what time it is?”

There’s only one thing that could have his boyfriend grinning so stupidly. Taehyung sniffs the air around them for confirmation, then states, “Your rut is coming on.”

Jungkook nods in confirmation. “And this time I’m going to fulfill my promise to you.” He nuzzles his head between Taehyung’s jaw and shoulder, licks over his scent gland teasingly, before breathing the vow across his wet skin. “ _I’m going to mate you_.”

Any other rut, this would have had Taehyung squealing with glee. Only Jungkook and the gods above know how badly he’s been wanting for this, hoping for the day their deep love is sealed with a bond. Now that the timing is perfect, now that food and shelter have been guaranteed and all their stars have seemingly aligned, Taehyung does not look forward to it. But he cannot break his alpha’s heart more than it already has been broken, so he doesn’t not say it like this to him.

“We’re going to need to ride it out in the forest this time around,” he reminds his alpha instead, staring at his lips to avoid his eyes. “Don’t you think we should wait until the next one? When we have somewhere more…comfortable?”

Jungkook whines at this, goes back to scenting Taehyung, the omega’s worried scent all too encompassing. “Don’t want to. Want you now. In the forest, in our room, on a fucking tree. I don’t care where. I just want to be mated to you.”

Of course, Jungkook knows where his omega’s sudden reservations come from. It hasn’t been too long since Jin imparted the devastating news on the both of them that Taehyung’s body is too weak to carry pups. That even if he were to get impregnated, he might not make it. Or worse, neither he nor the pups will make it.

He knows where the reservations come from, but he can’t say he understands. Because more than anything else, Jungkook love this man—pups or no pups—and he wants him and the rest of the pack to know just how much.

“But I don’t think I’ll be comfortable in the forest,” Taehyung says then, willingly exposing his neck some more. The hormones emanating off the alpha do work to ease his mind, albeit just a smidge. If they were mated, the effect would be stronger. “Can’t we wait? Please?” Which is a massive request coming from Taehyung considering he has been begging for this since the first time they had sex outside of heat or rut.

Jungkook exhales against Taehyung’s neck, unwinds his arms from around him to better read his face.

“I-I’ve heard from a few mated omegas that it hurts. That the bond reaches so deep into your soul, you can feel even your DNA altering. And if that’s the case, I want to do it somewhere more comfortable.”

Jungkook purses his lips. “That’s what the mated omegas say, huh?”

Taehyung peers up at him shakily, nods.

“Well,” Jungkook huffs, trying not to feel disappointed. “If that’s what you need, then so be it. As long as you’re comfortable.”

Taehyung is grateful, scents Jungkook back to let him now that. But he doesn’t feel deserving at all.

When he begins heading back to the fighting grounds, Jungkook tries to fight back the opposing emotions muddling his brain. On the one hand, he’s upset that they have to put off their mating for whoever knows how long. On the other, he feels guiltily relieved. And that’s the emotion he hates himself for.

He doesn’t want to be with anyone other than Taehyung. He cannot fathom mating anyone but that omega, _his_ omega. But he would be lying even to himself if he says current developments don’t eat away at his love for him. Because they do. Because he loves Taehyung, wants to mate Taehyung, wants dozens upon dozens of pups with Taehyung…

…but Taehyung can’t have pups.

This fact has put a slight strain on their relationship in recent days. At some moments it’s easy to cast the information aside and love each other the same as before. But at other moments he knows it’s the only thing either of them have on their minds, and it scares him. What the outcome of stalling their mating will be scares him.

When Jungkook arrives back at the fighting grounds behind the Compound, he catches the grimace on Jackson’s face from a half mile away. “I told you to check out the clearing, not fuck your boyfriend,” he teases, smelling sweet strawberries wafting off Jungkook’s approaching body.

“We didn’t,” mumbles Jungkook, taking his place next to the Tactical Supervisor. “He just happened to be there, needed some comfort. Anyway, the clearing looks just fine. It should be able to accommodate all of us.” He turns his attention towards the pack members warming up.

“I guess that’s it, then,” Jackson says, eyes taking in all the fighters at once, ready to call someone out for bad form or whatever else he likes to pick on. “Not that we had much say in the matter.”

“The change makes sense.”

Jackson shrugs at this. “I guess it does. I just hate change. This is our training area, has been for the past three years.”

“You heard Hyuna. The pack’s gotten too big for this place. If we don’t learn to adapt, we don’t survive.”

Jackson chuckles once, unamused. “You’re just saying that because Namjoon agreed to it. And if Namjoon agrees with it, you follow along blindly.”

It’s no secret among the pack that Jackson had wanted the position of leader when pack dynamics were established after the Civil War. The alpha was qualified enough, had proved himself a solid fighter during those trying times. But he was a mere fighter. Namjoon, on the other hand, had been a General. He had lead an entire squadron, taken in injured and dying civilians regardless of which side of the war they were on when their packs gave up on them, and won every battle he took part in with minimal causalities. And though the leader’s politics haven’t stood firm since then, it’s his skills and current beliefs that Jungkook admires.

Besides, he had won the duel for leadership fair and square.

“You just disagree with everything he says because he beat you in the fight, and you’re still bitter about it,” Jungkook retorts, but if Jackson hears him, he doesn’t show. Instead, he shouts Yugyeom’s name angrily and marches over to the alpha to tell him what he’s doing wrong.

Namjoon strolls the perimeter of his pack’s territory, doing his usual security rounds. Most days it’s peace and quiet out here and he ends up spending more time appreciating the weather than paying attention for any disturbances. Today, however, he heads back to the spot he discovered the omega at yesterday, looking to do some investigating now that he’s got the time.

The exact place the omega had been in—just under an oak tree that was tall and girthy enough to provide cover—is surrounded by a bed of leaves that look to have been intentionally placed there. He moves towards the bed slowly, sniffing the air around it, and his suspicions are confirmed; this is where the omega had waited out the entirety of his heat. Namjoon knows how uncomfortable lonely ruts can be, so he can imagine a solitary heat.

How long had the omega been here, suffering undetected? What brought him here in the first place, with the nearest pack located some twenty miles from the Compound?

Unfortunately, these are questions he will have no answers to until the omega comes to.

But, why is no one looking for him?

If he has come from the nearest pack, surely its leader would have approached him already. They’re on pretty good terms, no reason to leave the Kim Pack uninformed about a missing omega.

Namjoon huffs through his nose, sending the stained leaves scattering in all directions. He looks down the hill that sits just a few feet from the perimeter, lending him insight into the pack that lives just under. It’s lit up like a small village, very obviously more technically advanced than the Compound. He wonders what kind of deals they have with the humans to be able to run electricity through, considering they’re in the middle of a woodland. He wonders if he’s doing his pack a disservice by not supplying them with such amenities. Maybe that will be the topic of their next meeting: how to advance their living circumstances beyond just family homes.

There is an obvious shift in the air around him, and the furs on his back automatically stand on end. Muscles ready to pounce, he can’t help the low, threatening growl that sounds in the depths of his throat, rumbling through the air warningly.

Two different whines sound somewhere in front of him, and a few seconds later a man and woman emerge from the cluster of trees just feet from the perimeter. They are dressed in tattered clothes—probably the pairs they travel with when they’re shifted—and approach Namjoon’s wolf nervously, hands up in truce.

“S-sorry,” the woman stutters, standing before the male protectively. Funny, considering she’s a beta and he’s an alpha. She wouldn’t have enough stamina to fend a small bear off, let alone a wolf as large as Namjoon. “Didn’t realize how far outside our grounds we’ve gone. We’ll head back now.”

Namjoon wills himself to shift back into his human form, shorts tied around his waist strategically so that they offer him some decency without needing to put them on. “No worries,” he assures them, sniffing the air between them anyway. He catches hints of their unfamiliar scents, but somewhere in there traces of their leader reach his brain. They are true members of the Moon Pack, and therefore not a threat. “Head back onto your lands immediately.” He follows up with, “And send my regards to Leader Hyun-woo.”

The two bow respectfully. “Will do, Kim Pack Leader Namjoon.” They turn on their heels and shift as they run back in the direction they came from, clothes splitting in the air like lame fireworks.

Namjoon takes one last look at the makeshift nest of leaves before shifting into his wolf again. He moves one paw forward, readying to stroll back to the building, when a piercing howl cuts through the forest, sending birds and critters scattering in fear. He leans back on his haunches, returns the call, and propels his massive body forward, bounding through the forest at a speed that blurs his surroundings. Moving like this, he tunnel vision’s on the area straight ahead, peripheral blurred by shades of green, brown, and the occasional white of the clouds overhead. But he knows these grounds like the back of his hand—er, paw?—and not once does he come close to making contact with tree or rock. In a matter of minutes he has reached the edge of the forest, where he’s human again, and hastily slips his shorts on before running into the Compound.

Indoors, the halls are crowded with pack members whose attentions are aimed at the infirmary, hushed voices traveling like a building wave. Namjoon sends out calming pheromones, the effect immediate as the wave dies down. Around him, the pack members are just realizing he is pushing his way through them, and so they part down the center to make room for him as he heads towards the source of the sound; Seokjin.

The Healer stands just outside the infirmary doors, hands crossed behind his back. Everything about his appearance is at ease, so Namjoon’s first question is not about if everything’s okay. Instead, he wants to know, “Is Hyuna with him?” because there would be no other reason for his brother to call him back in this way unless the omega has awaken.

“She and Hwasa are with him now.”

“Were you able to get anything out of him before she got here?”

Jin purses his lips at that, glances awkwardly at the nearly hundreds of people standing behind Namjoon.

Facing the curious crowd, Namjoon’s alpha voice echoes in the air, reverberates in their bones. “Back to where you belong. I will not leave you in the dark for long.”

They don’t need to be told twice, not when the command is coming from the Leader himself. People disappear into their rooms, their voices dying out once on the other side of the walls, and a few others head outside the building to carry on with their morning duties.

The infirmary door behind him opens. Hyuna peers out at Namjoon and Jin through the crack. “Do you mind keeping it down?” she asks, though the hardness of her eyes tells them they _better_ keep it down, or else. “I have a fragile omega in here who’s freaking out as is. He doesn’t need your alpha voice scaring him to death.”

“Apologies, Head Omega,” Jin says quickly, taking Namjoon by the elbow. “We’ll come back when you send for us.”

She hums in thanks and disappears behind the doors again.

“Where are we going?” Namjoon wonders as he follows behind Jin confusedly.

“Your room. I have a few concerns.”

Namjoon’s room on the fifth floor is probably the least homely of any of the dorms in the building. Ever since moving in, he has not done anything to warm the place, leaving the white painted walls bare. All it consists of are a bed, a small side table, a mirror, and two loveseats for private meetings like this one.

“Sheesh,” Jin comments as if it’s his first time entering the place. “This is why I don’t like visiting you,” he refers to the impersonal atmosphere.

“Why are we here?” Namjoon asks, all business.

Jin walks over to one of the sofas, gestures for Namjoon to sit across from him. “I’m going to give you a play by play, and you infer what it all means on your own.” Namjoon crosses his legs under him as he sits, waits to hear what is so secretive that they couldn’t discuss it in the common room or the cafeteria. His back straight, tone as formal as Namjoon’s, Jin begins to explain. “The omega woke up about fifteen minutes ago. Naturally, he was disoriented, had many questions about where he is and who I am. His heart rate gradually increased as I relayed to him how he was found and why he was brought here, all the while being calmed down by Hwasa. But when I approached him and he caught a whiff of me, he began to scream.”

Namjoon blinks a few times, confused. “Scream?”

“Yes. He realized I’m an alpha and screamed his lungs out until I was out of the room and Hyuna arrived.”

Namjoon’s eyes narrow, wondering if all this secrecy is simply because his brother is offended that an omega is repulsed by him. “Well, did he say anything before screaming? Or…as he screamed, perhaps?”

Jin inhales deeply then, exhales with his next words. “’I hate alphas. Get him away from me. Get him away from me. I hate alphas’.”

“Huh.”

Taking into account the scratched out mating bite on the omega’s neck, this can’t be a good sign.

“Now, I don’t like to speak before I have all the facts,” Jin begins, “but I feel confident in saying that he has some sort of trauma associated with alphas. And with the whole mark situation, I think an alpha is the reason he’s here and in this condition.”

Namjoon scratches the back of his neck, trying not to read into Jin’s words, but simply absorb them for now. “That’s not a conclusion I want us to jump to.”

“It’s an informed guess, not a conclusion.”

So, there is another pack’s alpha somewhere out there, searching for their mate, who has ended up with Namjoon’s pack with a mating mark he has attempted to rip off.

Great. Just…great.

Hyuna, Hwasa, and the omega remain couped up in the infirmary for the majority of the day. For the most part, the Compound’s inhabitants forget about the earlier commotion and return to their daily activities. When the morning to afternoon work is done, everyone busies themselves with their friends and families. Running around under the setting sun, running through the sprinkles in the greenhouse, arguing over games of chess in the cafeteria, preparing for the upcoming ruts and heats. There’s always something to do to keep busy.

It’s while Namjoon divulges the day’s secrets to Jackson, the latter having just walked out of the fifth floor shower rooms, does Hyuna send for him.

“She’ll be waiting for you in your room, Sir,” the beta she’d sent, Jinyoung, informs him.

“Keep me updated,” Jackson shouts after Namjoon as the leader marches to the other side of the rectangular floor.

Sure enough, Hyuna is waiting for him, sitting cross legged on his bed, long black hair cascading over her shoulder and into her lap.

“That was quick,” she comments as he closes the door behind him.

“I was just a few feet away. You didn’t have to send Jinyoung to find me.”

She shrugs. “Easier than looking for you myself. Less of a headache than howling.”

Namjoon strides over to the sofas, sending the message that this conversation is too serious to be carried out in bed. Hyuna sighs, pushes herself off the mattress to join him.

“Were you able to get much out of him?” he asks when she lowers herself into the cushions across from him.

She crosses her bare legs, nods. “It took a while to get him to start talking. Poor thing’s scared shitless of…everything. But when he warmed up to me, he spilled. A lot.” Namjoon’s silence encourages her to go on. “He comes from a pack—wait, let me correct that. He has _defected_ from a pack called the Silmul’s. You ever heard of it?”

Namjoon winces at the word ‘defected’, shakes his head in answer to her question.

“Yeah, me neither. I thought he was lying at first. I mean, we know of most—if not all—the packs that emerged after the war. But then he began describing to me in detail all the ins and outs of the pack, and just talking about it made him shake in fear. I have to believe him.”

She’s right about that. Part of the truce that followed the war was an agreement that every pack outline their agreed upon territories on a map so boundary lines are known and clear to all. Namjoon doesn’t remember the Silmul Pack, unless it’s been that long since he’s looked at a map. He’ll have to follow up with Jackson to double check.

“What did he say about this pack?” Namjoon inquires.

Hyuna sighs, chews on her bottom lip as she recalls. “A lot of tough shit goes on. Like, shit you wouldn’t even believe. Every negative stereotype humans associate with hybrids, this pack lives up to it.”

“Give me specifics.”

“I don’t think he’s told me it all, but between begging me not to send him back there and shrieking at the mention of alphas, I picked up a few things. Namely that they’re underpopulated and have recently put in place a breeding initiative.”

 _Breeding initiative_?

Namjoon’s stomach turns on itself just at the sound of those words.

Hyuna sighs, and a rare look of compassion crosses her usually hard expression. “He’s basically been mated by an alpha he doesn’t want to be with, one who has four other omega’s with his mark. Because they don’t believe in breeding outside of mating, some alphas have had to take on multiple omegas. There’s no romance involved, no free will on the omega’s behalf. They’re just….” She closes her eyes, runs her tongue over her teeth in annoyance. “They’re just incubators for the future generations of the pack.”

It must have been difficult for her to listen to that, Namjoon acknowledges aloud.

“Yeah, well, it’s not the first time omegas have been subjected to cruel and unfair treatment. You and I both know that.”

True. She had valiantly fought right alongside him during the war, was one of his troops in fact.

“I mean, I knew the war didn’t end with us getting the equality we hoped for,” she adds. “But I did feel like hybrids were headed in a better direction. I thought packs like that died out.”

“The one negative aspect to packs keeping to themselves so adamantly is that we forget what lies outside our boundary lines,” Namjoon reminds her. “We don’t know what’s truly happening outside these trees. It’s that discovery that ignited the war in the first place.”

She squeezes her eyes closed, heaves a deep breath. Hyuna is not one to show her emotions easily, but the thoughts and memories this conversation is reminiscent of are by no means good ones.

“Did he tell you exactly why he ran away?” Surely, if his way of life is how he explains, then he must be used to it. If he didn’t know of anything outside his pack, he couldn’t have been sure that a better one awaits him.

“No,” Hyuna shakes her head, eyes opening to reveal they’re dry. “He just gave me details of the place and I think expected that I would just understand his reasons.”

Something still doesn’t sit right with Namjoon. There is still so much missing information that nothing about the omega’s defection sounds right. “Did he say anything else about his mate?”

“Not really. He just asked if I knew of a way to rid him of his mating mark. I explained that there isn’t, but even if there was that it would definitely be painful.” She makes sure to hold Namjoon’s gaze. “He said he’d rather die of pain than have that blemish marking him.”

The air that escapes through Namjoon’s teeth whistles, and he slumps back on the sofa as this revelation smacks into him. It’s like the worst case scenario is inevitable.

“He didn’t say why,” the alpha guesses.

“Nope. Was just really sad when I couldn’t offer him a solution. Whoever his alpha is must be a terrible person, Namjoon. No omega would want to put themselves through the pain of breaking a bond even if they are miserable with their mate. He must have been suffering to run away the way he did.”

Namjoon doesn’t need to be educated on the pain that accompanies a broken bond. He’s lived it. He knows. His own fading mark throbs with the memory every now and again. 

“I promised that he can stay with us until he’s healthy again,” she adds, watching Namjoon’s expression carefully.

His eyes snap to back to hers. He straightens his back again. “Why are you making promises without consulting me or the board?”

“I am part of the board.”

“I’m the leader of this pack. My authority overrules all of yours put together. I didn’t think you would do such an emotional thing, Hyuna,” he scolds her.

Her shoulders drop guiltily, but her words remain firm. “I just promised him a warm bed and fresh food until he can brave the wild on his own again. I didn’t tell him we would initiate him.”

That in particular does not bother Namjoon. In fact, he would have done the same if he was the one in that room, be it this omega or anyone else. Still, a decision like that made by a member acting based on their bias towards omegas, without seeking the approval of the leader? “Years ago we may have had the means of eagerly accepting anyone who needs a home. But you said it yourself, Hyuna; this place has gotten much too small for our growing pack. We need to put the current members above all others.”

She massages at the bridge of her nose dolefully. “I know, I know. I just…looking at him breaks my heart, Alpha,” she appeals to him. “And I know you wouldn’t have turned him away either.”

Manipulation. She is so good at it that anyone else may fall for it. But Namjoon is not the leader for nothing.

“I may not have, but we have a system in place for a reason. Imagine if everyone here was allowed to make such decisions on their own. We wouldn’t have gotten where we are.”

“You’re right,” she acquiesces.

“Is there anything else you needed to tell me?”

She sighs, rises off the couch then, recognizing the dismissal. “No. That’s pretty much all I could get out of him.”

“Okay then. Tomorrow you’ll try some more. But if you can’t remain impartial, let me know and I’ll find someone else…”

“I won’t make him any more promises,” she swears, getting defensive. He remains seated as she goes to let herself out, turns back to face him just before exiting. “Alpha, you didn’t ask for his name.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jimin. Park Jimin.”

After gathering his thoughts, Namjoon calls for an impromptu meeting in the cafeteria, deciding that giving the pack updates piecemeal would be better than keeping them waiting for however long it takes Park Jimin to pull himself together.

The meeting doesn’t last too long, and as it ends Jungkook steals Taehyung away into the now pitch black forest in search of a spot comfortable enough for what’s to come.

Taehyung doesn’t need help finding his way in the dark; hybrid night vision is unparalleled. Still, he clings to Jungkook’s side like they’re glued together, an act Jungkook welcomes.

The forest is quiet save for the cacophony of cicadas creeking from all directions and the occasional skitter of rodents through the fallen leaves. An owl hoots somewhere in the distance, too far away to be in their territory.

“How was training today?” Taehyung asks in a whisper, keeping from disturbing the tranquility of the wildlife around them.

Jungkook matches his low voice. “Same as ever. When there are no real threats to prepare for, it’s difficult to get anyone to take the training seriously.”

“You’d think with the news of this omega the fighters would be on guard, no?”

The issue with prepping a fighting team that has not had reason to fight for years is that they no longer believe and anticipate threats. Jungkook has noticed the way the fighters’ teamwork and fierceness has died down with time. “They need a wakeup call,” he murmurs, more to himself than his partner. “Anyway, how are things at the greenhouse?”

At this point, the two are strolling along aimlessly, less focused on searching for an ideal rut location and more on the serenity of this quiet moment alone. The Compound building can get suffocating at times, one of the reasons neither of them spoke out against family homes.

Taehyung groans at the mention. “We lost half a basket of tomatoes. Heuning-Kai dropped his pickings running the fruits to the kitchen and the other pickers trampled all over them. Two months’ worth of growing and looking after for nothing.”

The alpha slows to stand behind his partner, takes him by the shoulders for a haphazard massage as they continue their walk. “That must have been frustrating for you.”

“Mmm,” Taehyung hums, leaning into his firm grip. “Nothing a little…”

He cuts off then, stops walking, too. There’s a disturbance in the chlorophyll scented air, a burst of lavender that doesn’t belong, not in these forests.

Jungkook knocks into him from behind, startled. “What’s wrong?”

Taehyung turns around, takes his alpha’s hand and begins pulling him in the opposite direction, annoyed. “Omega in heat,” he explains bitterly, trying to get his alpha as far away from the alluring scent as possible.

“Shit.” That will be them in a few days’ time, no privacy to ensure that they’re not interrupted in the throes of sex. “Yoongi was right to laugh in Hyuna’s face.”

Taehyung slows down when the only lavender left is what remains on his nostril hairs. “She’s not wrong, either. This is how ruts and heats have always been carried out. We’re just more in touch with our human side than our wolf side at this point.”

“You’re saying you’ll be comfortable doing the things we do out in the open? Because it’s natural?”

Taehyung can’t help the smirk that crawls across his face. They have great sex. Mind blowing sex. Throw a rut or a heat in there, and he doesn’t think anyone can ever feel as good as they make each other feel. But no, he’s not saying it won’t be awkward. “I mean we need to find a place no one’s discovered yet, where there’s no lingering smells.”

Unmated alphas and omegas are more susceptible to temptation without a bond holding them utterly faithful to their mates. They have to be careful if they have partners.

“The forest is too big for us to find someplace like that in one night. Wanna’ pick this up again tomorrow? In daylight?” suggests Jungkook, pulling Taehyung closer with the hand the omega still holds. He nuzzles his face in his hair, licks once behind his ear, and his ego flares at the hints of arousal that waft off Taehyung’s body.

“There’s one place we can check before heading back,” the omega tells him, doing his best to keep his composure. Ruts need preparation, and as much as he would love ravishing his alpha right here and now, he doesn’t want to bring Jungkook closer to his animalistic instinct without the necessary supplies in order.

He leads his partner a mile or two in the direction their pack rarely ventures, over to where their water system begins. Thanks to his job at the greenhouse, he knows of a waterfall there, one that deposits in the unclaimed territory between them and the Lee Pack. It has intentionally been left unclaimed so the nearby packs can all utilize it without getting territorial. Of course, there have been the typical rifts between members of each pack accusing the other of using more than their fair share, but the river the waterfall deposits from seems never ending. There is no real concern over water running out.

The closer they get, the louder the violent rushing of the water grows. It drowns out all other noise, drowns out even their thoughts, and soon they are standing at the edge of a valley, looking down at the stream created by the waterfall that is still about half a mile away. Cooling mist glosses their skin, refreshing. It’s a beautiful scene, would be more amazing in the daytime, but Jungkook can see them spending a few days here.

“There’s a cave just behind the falls,” Taehyung shouts over the raging water. “You can’t see it now, but if we get a little closer…”

“This is perfect!”

«««

Hyuna trades shifts with Hwasa, insists the younger omega get some rest so she can spend the night with their patient.

Jin must be itching to get back in here by now. The Healer treats his infirmary more like a home than his own room.

The Head Omega sits in the swivel chair a foot away from Park Jimin’s bed. He still looks worse for wear, stinks like a bitch, too. But at least he’s sitting up now, eating some leftovers from dinnertime. And boy does he fucking eat.

Hyuna had packed his tray with anything and everything his heart could desire; rabbit, sausage, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, mangos, pears…. She didn’t think he’d be able to eat it all, just figured to vary his options in case there’s something he doesn’t like. Instead, she had watched with disgust as he mixed everything together and began shoveling the contents down like they might run away from him.

“You need to slow down,” she tells him, though she watches on with intrigue. “Your body isn’t used to this amount of food. You’ll get sick.”

It’s worrying, the way his bones are outlined by the taught, famished skin. But the memories of starvation are still pretty clear in her mind, and although the food might look good and taste good now, things won’t feel so good when he sets his spoon down.

Jimin peers at her through his barely there lashes, eyes eerily wide against his gaunt face. Without a word, he sets the plate down before his crossed legs, saves the rest for later. He does lick his lips for the remaining flavor, though.

“What’s your alpha’s name?” Hyuna wants to know, and the way she asks leaves no room for the omega to deny her an answer.

Jimin looks back down at his plate like the answer is somewhere amongst the mush.

“I don’t remember,” he tells her, sadness dripping from his tone.

“Hm. How long have you been separated from your alpha that you don’t remember the name of someone who’s mated you?”

There’s a glint of something hard in his eyes. Anger? Disgust? She can’t quite pinpoint, much like how she can’t place his scent. But there’s something there, and it tells her that just because this hybrid looks fearful and helpless, not everything about him is.

“I’m not sure.”

She rolls her eyes at this. She knew they’d hit a wall eventually; when he had first woken up he was so scared shit was just spilling from his quivering lips. Now that they’re leveling with him, feeding him, making him promises—she mentally kicks herself for allowing her empathies to get in the way—he suddenly can’t recall anything about how he ended up on their territory.

She leans forward in her chair, rests her elbows on her knees. She may have a soft, pretty face, but she can be a menace when she needs to be. “Listen Jimin, I’ve heard everything you’ve told me, and I sympathize with your situation, I really do. The thing is, though, I’m keeping you here, chatting you up, feeding you against my own alpha’s wishes. I’m putting my neck out on the line for you. And you can’t even tell me the name of the person you’ve run away from?” It’s clear that she’s been too nice with him. The game needs to change now.

Jimin still won’t look at her. “I’m sorry,” he says, but nothing about the way he says it indicates he means it.

“Oh, don’t be sorry towards me, Park Jimin. There’s nothing to be sorry for,” she assures him, overplaying her lack of concern. “Because in the end, I belong to this pack. And you know as well as I do that when the time comes—whether I get in trouble for feeding you or not—the pack leader is going to throw you back out there, make you find your way home. Or worse, you’ll stumble upon a pack that isn’t as welcoming as ours. But I’ll have a nice bed and a good meal waiting for me regardless.”

He closes his eyes then, losing some patience at keeping up what Hyuna knows is a charade.

There is no doubt in her mind that this omega is in need of help, that he’s escaped from somewhere terrible. Just the sight of him will tell you that. But he isn’t being truthful.

“You can’t send me back. I’ll die.”

“And what’s your death got to do with me? With my pack?”

“You’ll have blood on your hands.”

She laughs once at this, loud and shrill that it sends goosebumps crawling over Jimin’s entire naked body. She’s been told she sounds like a hyena sometimes. “Oh, sweetie. Everyone here’s got blood on their hands. What’s one more person going to do to us?”

Something about the way she says it triggers Jimin. He swallows hard, eyebrows furrowed in shock and anger. “Y-you’d risk the life of one of your own?”

“You’re not one of my—oh, you mean a fellow omega?” She chuckles this time, pretending to be amused. “For my pack, of course I will.”

It’s a lie and she knows it. She’s the last person to ever endanger an omegas life. In fact, everything she’s been spewing up to this very moment has been a lie. Omegas are already at the bottom of the totem pole, no matter what anyone preaches about freedom and autonomy. Her very pack is guilty of subjecting omegas to unfair treatment on occasion. But this particular omega doesn’t know that, doesn’t need to know that. He just needs to be scared into submission.

Which is why she’s starting to consider sending after the Leader. This Jimin is clearly too comfortable around her to give up anything meaningful.

Okay, maybe bringing Namjoon in here would be a bit much. He can get too scary sometimes. But Seokjin…Seokjin is perfect.

Jin is woken from his sleep by a consistent rapping on the door, not that his slumber is peaceful or welcome in any way. Sighing, he throws his legs over the side of the bed, slides his feet into his slippers, and trudges over to open it. Hyuna greets him with her usual bored expression.

“I need your help with the omega,” she says harshly.

He yawns, big and loud, before asking, “Is there anything wrong with him?”

She shakes her head, no. “He just needs an alpha to scare information out of him, and you’re the nicest alpha I know.”

He doesn’t hesitate to wonder what she means, but tells her he’ll be right down as soon as he’s changed. All he does really is throw his doctor’s coat over his pajamas, try to flatten his frizzed up hair with nothing more than his fingers, and follows her down to the main floor. “Will you be joining us?” he asks as they reach the bottom of the stairway.

“I don’t think I’ll be much help. But if you need me, you know where to find me.” She continues down the stairs to the basement, where the breeding rooms are. Her job is to ensure the pack members down there have everything they need to carry out their heats and ruts.

Jin turns to the left, not looking forward to the crying and screaming that will surely ensue once the omega catches sight of him again. The door is loud as he pushes it open, but that doesn’t distract Jimin from shoveling food into his mouth like there’s no tomorrow.

“You better slow down,” Jin says in the most calming voice he can muster in his exhausted state.

Jimin freezes mid chew, eyeballs slowly rolling up to look at his intruder. He swallows the mouthful as is.

Though not yet overbearing, considering it still mingles with sweat and remnants of the wild, his natural scent is clear now. It is unmistakably that of a morning dew, calming and refreshing, and Jin tries to hurry to the medicine cabinet without alarming him.

“Your metabolism needs to be regulated before you can have that amount of food,” he says over his shoulder, breathing through his mouth only. “She shouldn’t have given you so much.”

Jimin remains quiet, eyes trained on the alpha warily.

Jin finds the hand labeled container of pills he’s looking for, shakes one out onto his palm, and pours the omega a cool cup of water from the tap before taking Hyuna’s spot in the swivel chair. He holds his hand out, pill in the center. “This is a suppression pill. It helps keep your omega pheromones at bay so you’re not…distracting everyone around you.” Jimin looks down at it like it’s a curious thing, but makes no move to accept it. “It doesn’t rid you of your scent completely, but it does tone it down a bit, enough that alphas won’t be tempted.”

He can tell that Jimin finds it intriguing because the omega takes it from him, holds it up to to the light to inspect it. When he’s had enough, he drops it back onto Jin’s still open hand, shaking his head.

Well, a rejection is better than screaming bloody murder.

“In that case, I’m going to wear this while I’m here.” The Healer reaches for his gas mask that sits beside the sink and lets Jimin inspect that too before putting it on. “It looks scary, but it just helps filter your scent from the air.” When it’s secured over his nose and mouth, he relaxes a bit, lungs thanking him for finally taking a satisfying breath. “Jimin, my name is Kim Seokjin. I’m the healer of this pack. Do you know what a healer is?”

Eyes wide, gaze distrusting, Jimin shakes his head yet again. It’s a miracle Hyuna was able to get anything out of him.

“I’m the person the members of this pack come to when they’re not feeling well,” Jin patiently explains. “For example, our leader found you unconscious. He brought you here, I administered some vitamins and electrolytes to you, and now here you are. Awake and well.”

Jimin doesn’t do well with alphas. The only ones he has ever known are those members of his pack, and they weren’t the nicest people to be around. To have an alpha seated so close to him without a hungry look in his eyes, taking the time to explain to him things he will never understand, is beyond peculiar.

“Jimin, in order to further help you I need you to tell me a few things. Do you want me to help you?”

For the first time since Jin has communicated with him, the patient nods his head, furiously at that.

“Can you tell me about the scratches on your neck?” He steers clear of words relating to mating. Everything about the omega tells him he will not react well if he does.

Jimin’s hand flies up to the left side of his neck. A severe blush covers his body, and with his other hand he pulls the blanket up to his chin. Jin is well versed in many medical fields, psychology and body language not being one. But it doesn’t take a genius to catch on to this shift in behavior.

“Did you hurt yourself there, Jimin, or did someone do that to you?”

The omega makes eye contact, opens his mouth once, twice to say something, but ultimately decides against doing so. Jin doesn’t push him, the alpha’s patience abundant. They remain as is, staring into one another’s eyes for minutes. Jin does not follow with any questions until he gets an answer to this one.

Finally, his patience tiring out, the omega speaks in a voice shockingly older than he appears. “Cuh-can you g-get rid of it?”

Something inside Jin sparks at the success of getting him to verbally communicate.

“I’m afraid mating marks aren’t something we can get rid of. At least, there are no means that I know of. Is that something you want, Jimin? You want to get rid of your mark?”

Jimin gulps, looks away ashamedly. Jin waits, but this is a question Jimin is not willing to answer. The Healer gets his answer anyway.

“Why don’t you tell me how exactly you ended up here then? Our territory must be pretty far from yours.”

“I-I walked.”

Right, but, “How long do you think you walked for?”

Jimin picks at a loose piece of fabric in the blanket, left hand still cupping his neck over the mark.

Jin recognizes this is going to be one long ass night. He thanks the stars he’s not much of a sleeper anyway.

«««

There are two things Jimin is entirely sure of.

First is that this place is unlike anything he has ever seen in his entire existence.

Second, he would rather die than go back to his pack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I love reading comments and hearing where you think this story is going, who you ship and so on.


	3. Uninvited Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jungkook goes into rut, Jackson comes across a shady alpha, Jimin is amazed by the newness of the Compound, and Namjoon is stuck with a difficult decision to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw/tw:  this chapter is a lot more plot, but there is smut at the end bet. JK and Tae. so, if you're not into that, skip whatever comes after Jackson and Namjoon's conversation. 
> 
> this chapter is a little more than 7.5k

With the next sunrise, the residents of the Compound begin to wake. There is the usual morning bustle as the cooks head to the cafeteria to begin preparing that morning’s breakfast, and others heading out to enjoy the early morning rays before their work day begins.

Namjoon is one of the first out of bed to begin his ritualistic survey of the perimeter, and it takes every ounce of self-control in him not to head to the infirmary. He tells himself that he will be called when needed.

Hyuna and Solar work to replenish the few empty mating rooms for the upcoming occupants. Jackson continues to snooze those last few minutes before heading out of the Compound, and Jungkook shakes Taehyung awake in a panic, his body heat reaching sky high numbers.

“Head to the waterfall,” Taehyung tells him, giving him a quick morning kiss. “I’ll grab us something to eat and meet you there in a few.”

The alpha is off before too many of the pack members are up, a bag filled with a week’s worth of clothing and protein bars slung over his shoulder. They had completed their preparations the night before.

Kim Seokjin remains holed up in the infirmary with Park Jimin, having made much headway during their extensive midnight talks. Now he stands guard over the omega, because despite his harrowing stories, he is a stranger who still cannot be trusted.

Jimin lies in bed, his back to the pacing alpha, pretending to still be asleep.

Though he hasn’t seen much of this place, everything he’s encountered so far is utterly new to him. Indoor sunlight that looks more white than yellow, soft cottons to rest on, magic beans that somehow stop his body from doing what his body naturally does. But more surprising than all that is the alpha who’s kept him company all night without having laid a hand on him.

It’s that weird face covering, it has to be. It keeps alphas at bay.

He thanks the moon and the stars that of all the packs to accidently stumble onto, his legs had managed to carry him here. Where here is, he doesn’t know, not yet. He does know that if a strange hybrid had crossed onto his pack’s territory for whatever reason, they would have been disposed of immediately. He at least has gotten a satisfying meal before he dies.

The door of the white room opens, the sound of air rushing out.

“Hwasa, thank the gods. I’ve been needing the restroom for hours,” Jin whispers.

“You should have called on someone, Healer,” a familiar female voice replies. “How was your night?”

“Fruitful. Now that you’re here I can go update Nam—the Leader.”

Jimin’s heart sinks.

“Is he still strictly on fluids?”

Jin sighs in annoyance. “No, not strictly. Hyuna gave him a feast last night. I’m surprised he was able to sleep without discomfort. Anyway, I’ll bring you both some breakfast before seeking Namjoon.”

The door makes that noise again, and Jimin can only feel the presence of one person in the room with him. He senses Hwasa’s shadow roaming over him as she rounds the bed, coming to a stop just in front of his face.

“Omega,” she croons sweetly, running a hand through his matted hair, fingers getting caught in the tangles. “How long have you been pretending to be asleep?”

Jimin opens his eyes, the brightness of the room catching him off guard. He rolls over onto his back, ensures the blanket is properly wrapped around him before sitting up. “Hasn’t been long,” he fibs, reacting naturally to the grin on the redheads face and smiling in return.

“You look much better than when I last saw you,” she compliments him, lowering herself into the chair Jin had been in all night. “Your skin looks so much brighter.”

He’s never been complimented before, and hearing this turns his insides all soft. “Thank you.”

“You probably heard, but Jin went off to get us some food. I think we’ll have enough time to give you a quick bath before he returns. How ‘bout it?”

He knows what a bath is. He’s taken a few in his lifetime, washed up in the river near his pack’s huts. Will she be letting him outside? Oh, how he misses fresh air and greenery.

When he gives her an enthusiastic nod, she helps him off the bed, pulling the IV from the machine he’s hooked up to. Jin had explained it all to him last night.

At first, it’s difficult for him to balance on his legs. When he looks down he’s horrified to see red and swollen feet.

“No worries, the swelling will go down in a matter of days. You just had a lot going on down there after your journey, but Healer Jin has taken care of all of it. Do you think you can take a few steps?”

He leans into the fellow omega, takes one step forward, and crumbles onto the ground in a lump of bones, sharp pains stabbing from the bottom of his feet to his hips.

He doesn’t understand why tears spring to his eyes, the fall is not painful. But he holds them back as he’s used to doing.

“Oh, dear. Here, we’ll use the wheelchair.”

Jimin hears the word, but does not register that a wheelchair is a chair with wheels, and when Hwasa rolls it up next to him, he is an awe all over again. He has been learning all night as Healer Jin introduced him to the contents of the room, holding things up and teaching him their words. “This is a syringe,” he’d said, holding up a clear tube with black symbols on it. “This is a needle,” he had pointed to the metal splinters in Jimin’s arms.

Hwasa helps him get back on his feet only to lower him into the wheelchair, and for a moment he feels as if he’s sitting in his pack leader’s throne. The clay seat had always looked massive to him, something he could curl up and fall asleep on if he wanted. Sitting in this chair, he felt engulfed by its size.

“I’m going to take you to the bathrooms,” Hwasa tells him, hanging a bag over one of the wheelchairs’ handles and rolling him over to the door. “Now, there are going to be a lot of people out there who will whisper and stare, but that’s just because they’re curious about our new guest.” She pulls his blanket up higher, makes sure it’s tucked securely behind his back. “Ready?”

Not really, but he can’t say as much when she pulls the door open and a breeze blows over him, making him shiver.

The outside of the infirmary has indoor sunlight as well, only out here it is yellow. Just…a different yellow than the sun. And Hwasa is right; there are many people walking around them, all of them pausing to stare at Jimin as he’s rolled past them. He stares right back, taking in the features of this strange pack and its people. There are men and women large and small, some round, some not. Some wear colorings on their faces, and all wear cotton on their bodies—more cotton than he’s seen anyone wear—but none look like Jimin. None look like the members of his pack.

Something about them intrigues him, makes him want to reach out and touch. He’s too far away to, wouldn’t dare even if they were close enough. And they do talk, hushed and behind secretive hands. But none of it bothers him. He’s just as taken by them as they are with him.

Hwasa doesn’t take him outside, and he’s mildly disappointed when she rolls him into yet another white room, this one split into multiple other rooms. She helps him out of the chair again, walks him into one of these rooms, and lowers him onto a seat there.

“This is a shower,” she tells him, turning a nob that suddenly begins gushing water. “Don’t be alarmed, but the water will come from up there when I turn this handle.” She points to a silver round thing above him. “Put your hand under here and tell me when the water feels nice.”

It’s the strangest waterfall he has ever seen, but then again, what isn’t strange about this place?

He does as she says, placing his dark hand underneath the stream while she plays with the handle. When the water is warm enough, he lets her know, and the waterfall suddenly comes from above. The sensation of the water hitting his skin as hard but as soft as it does tickles him, makes him laugh.

Hwasa gets to work, grabbing things from the bag she brought with them and scrubbing his body with suds that smell flowery but not genuine. She washes his hair the same way, and he gapes with amazement as the water falling off him pools around him in a murky black color, only to disappear into a hole in the ground.

His pack doesn’t have any of this. No one is allowed to enter their territory, so stories about other packs do not make it to the members. But Jimin, he’s different. He has a friend who comes and goes, and he is filled with tales about the magic that lies outside the trees that keep the Silmul’s obscured from prying eyes. Of course, Jimin never believed him. He took his friend’s tales with a grain of salt, treated them as their pack treats legends. He didn’t even dream of these places at night, every fiber of his being rejecting the idea that somewhere out there are hybrids who live better than he. Because that’s what they have been taught all their lives. That no one has it better than them. 

He’s slightly disappointed when the water stops, but is curious to see what happens next. Hwasa removes a large cloth from the bag and directs him to dry himself off with it, which he does. It’s soft against his skin, nothing like it having grazed him before, and he takes his time feeling it beneath his fingers, dragging it across his bruised skin. When Hwasa reaches out for it, he understands that’s enough, and gladly trades it for a shirt. This he’s familiar with, albeit larger and cleaner looking than what he’s used to. He slips it over his naked torso, its sleeves well past his hands. Hwasa rolls them up for him. Next is a pair ‘underwear’, he’s told, which go on before the pants. It’s somewhat of a tight fit, the fabric pressing a little too harshly on his penis, but if this is what this pack does, he wants to do it too.

“All done,” Hwasa says finally, dragging a toothed object through his now smooth hair. She takes a step back to admire him, causing him to flush all over. “Wow! Have you ever seen your reflection, Jimin?”

“What’s that?”

She giggles. “Let’s get you in front of a mirror. You need to witness how beautiful you are.”

«««

Besides preparing for a battle that may or may not be coming, the fighters’ other duty is transporting imports to the Compound.

With Jungkook preoccupied for the time being, Jackson is the one to lead the team out of the territory today. They prepare in the hangar, securing knives to their ankles, tasers to their holsters. They do without guns. Guns cannot be properly obscured, and the sight of one is invitation for confrontation. Humans already perceive the hybrids’ existence as a threat in itself.

They head out to load into the Compound’s three pickup trucks. Jackson, Yugyeom, BamBam, and Chae-rin pack into the flatbed of the truck Jin-young drives.

“We stick together and we move as one!” Jackson bellows to the members on the surrounding trucks. They give him a thumbs up in response. He wraps on Jin-young’s rear window to indicate they’re ready, and the bumpy ride out the forest begins.

It’s a weekly trek they need to make in order to keep the Compound supplied. Jackson doesn’t know how other packs are surviving, but Namjoon—with his diplomatic appeal—and Jin—with his connections—managed to strike a trade deal with some humans in the city way back when. In exchange for the pack to remain out of Seoul to keep from terrorizing the so called ‘pure bloods’—pure humans, that is—the hybrids receive amenities such as medications, toiletries, construction supplies, and whatever else they may need to sustain a modern pack. Of course, there is a cap on certain things, but Namjoon’s managed to find a way around that. Some items, whether needed or not, get requested regardless. It’s better to be overprepared than underprepared, a saying Jackson has adopted as his motto.

The funny thing about those fickle humans is that they’re too afraid to even come near the forest, that distrusting of hybrids. So, every week, the fighting team has to take time out of their training to head into the city, the only hybrids Jackson knows of who have been given permission to do so.

The ride out onto the first main road is approximately 10 miles, and pretty soon they drive down pavement rather than grass. Yugyeom is trying to keep from falling asleep, and failing at that, while Chae-rin sits with her body stiff and a hard look on her face. One of the few females on the team, and an omega, she is one of the most alert fighters he knows.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks, noting the way her eyes dart across their blurring surroundings.

They land on him when he addresses her. “Just because I don’t smile doesn’t mean something is wrong,” she says flatly. “I’m concentrating.”

It’s not only the humans who are not trustful; the hybrids have their reservations, too. Experience has taught them that no matter how docile their human neighbors appear to be, they are the ones with truly evil tendencies. Nine out of ten time they are the ones to attack unprovoked, sometimes even each other.

“You sense anything?” Jackson asks a few minutes later, this time BamBam joining her in looking around suspiciously. Omegas are known to have senses more keen than their alpha and beta counterparts.

The two omegas glance at each other questioningly before turning to him. “I think I smell another pack,” BamBam informs him over the rush of the wind as the car continues speeding down the road. “But it’s too faint, can’t really be sure. Could be anything, really.”

“I smell it, too,” Chae-rin provides.

One omega can be doubted, but two is confirmation in Jackson’s eyes.

He sits up straighter, straining his eyes and ears on their surroundings. Behind their truck trail the other four, their own passengers looking around in confusion as well.

Yugyeom, now fully alert after catching hints of their conversation in the wind, asks, “Do we turn around?”

“No!” Jackson is adamant. No matter what, they need to come back with supplies. Today is their scheduled pick up. Missing it means waiting another week before they replenish anything back at the Compound, and who knows what they’ll be in need of by then? “We just don’t go down in full force. One group will enter the warehouse, the rest will stand guard.”

But there shouldn’t be the scent of any other pack this distant from the forest, and the Tactical Supervisor’s wolf instincts kick into high gear.

The warehouse they pick their supplies up from is not really in the city, but at the outskirts. It’s the halfway point between the forest and Seoul, in the midst of a human community that had been befuddled by its erection after the war. It’s as close as the hybrids are allowed to get, but the Kim Pack has no qualms with that. They want less to do with the arrogant sons of bitches than they do with them.

They park the trucks in a semicircle around the small warehouse, tail ends facing the garages, ready to peel out if and when necessary. Just as Jackson had communicated to them, everyone remains in their trucks except for his group, who follow him into the building attentively. He can smell it now, too, the familiar musk of alphas. Alphas that are not part of his pack.

He enters angrily, prepared to go off at whatever human had allowed a pack other than theirs onto the property. He finds Sun-ho, their middleman, nearly cowering behind a stack of boxes, a large, dirty alpha standing over him.

“Who are you?” Jackson shouts without preamble, sliding in between the two.

Sun-ho looks physically relieved to see him, an unnatural reaction.

The warrior in the Tactical Supervisor is nondescriptly surveying the warehouse, as are Jin-young, Yugyeom, BamBam, and Chae-rin. The fighters walk the area of the room, searching for anything of suspicion, while their supervisor faces the unfamiliar alpha.

His face looks to be contorted in a permanent scowl, large and small scars decorating it. He must be a member of the wilder packs. Jackson remembers running into them during the warring days. Nasty bastards, they are. Violent.

The dirty alpha frowns down at Jackson. He answers with, “Who are you?”

“The owner of this place. I don’t wanna’ know why you’re here bothering my friend,” and boy does that last word feel strange coming off his tongue, “but I do wanna’ see you walking your ass out of here ASAP.”

“Friend?” the stranger scoffs, red-rimmed irises rising to size Sun-ho up. “That scum?”

Jackson pivots so his body blocks Sun-ho from view. He doesn’t like the wild look in this hybrid’s eyes.

The others come to stand around the two alphas eyeing each other down, prepared for any sudden moves.

“You can either walk out of here yourself,” Jackson warns tightly, jaw clenched. “Or they can help you.”

At this, the larger alpha turns his head to size the other four up. Something about this entire scenario amuses him, because he begins to chuckle low. “What the fuck are two omegas, a beta, and a scrawny ass alpha going to do to me exactly?”

Chae-rin bares her teeth and growls at the insult, crouching to whip her knife out when necessary. Jin-young rolls his eyes, the comment nothing new to him.

“They’ll do nothing if you walk yourself out of here and never step foot in our territory again.”

The scarred alpha’s smile slips at this, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He straightens his posture, making himself bigger, before asking, “And whose pack do you belong to?”

“Kim Namjoon’s,” Jackson proudly announces, well aware of the implications this has in context with the stranger’s haggard appearance.

There is a tense moment of silence, but it is just that; a moment. The stranger huffs at the mention of the Leader’s name and nods once in understanding. People like him don’t do business with humans. They spit on the idea. But Namjoon’s pack…they have a reputation for being human sympathizers.

Just like that, the larger alpha turns on his heel and marches out the door, no words of warning or threat on his way. 

Jackson turns back to the human, whose eyes are closed as he sighs in relief. “What did he want?”

At that moment the remainder of the fighters outside enter. Sun-ho tenses up again, uncomfortable with the presence of so many hybrids, but he no longer looks fearful.

“He shifted!” one of the incoming betas exclaims incredulously. “Right outside the door, where any passing human can see him and assume him a threat. He fucking shifted and took off.”

This doesn’t surprise Jackson. The wilder packs, they don’t take into consideration human’s and their tendency for retaliation, threat or no threat. Regardless, none of this sits right with him.

He turns back to Sun-ho. “He was looking for some guy, said he lost him,” the human explains, finding comfort in remaining behind the boxes shielding him. “Told him I ain’t provide nothing for no hybrids when you lot showed up. Made me out to be a liar.”

“A liar’s a liar,” Jackson retorts, feeling Sun-ho should be bowing in thanks rather than giving him attitude. But just as a liar’s a liar, a human is a human. It’s too much to expect civility. If he really thinks about it, had one of their own been under the mercy of a human, Sun-ho wouldn’t have stood in the way and defended them as Jackson just had him. Asshole.

“Did he mention a name?”

“His own, or the man he’s looking for?”

“Both, Sunny,” sighs Jackson.

“Didn’t give me his, but the lost man, his starts with a J.”

“That’s what he told you, word for word?”

Sun-ho’s eyes roll as if Jackson is the one giving him a hard time and not the other way around. “Man’s mentioned his name, but I was too busy tryin’ not to piss myself, wasn’t I? All I ‘member is his name starts with a J.”

Jackson remains uneasy their entire stay at the warehouse, stacking boxes onto the flatbeds haphazardly and unfocused. He awaits an attack that never comes, and one and a half hours later, when all their supplies have safely been loaded, he gives the air one last sniff before climbing to sit amongst the boxes. There’s a trail of something, a mixture of mud and sweat that doesn’t belong this close to the city, and he commits the scent to memory. Namjoon will need to hear all about this.

“Anything suspicious like this happens again, you let us know immediately,” Chae-rin shouts to Sun-ho, who is locking the warehouse door.

“How am I s’posed to do that?” the human shouts back over the engines of the five trucks.

“Drive down to our Compound, tie a note to a dove, I don’t fucking know. Find a way.” The omega heaves herself onto the truck, holds onto one of the boxes for balance. Jackson gives Jin-young the signal and the omega peels them out of the driveway and back onto the road, leaving behind an irritated Sun-ho who curses hybrids and their parasitic existence to dust.

«««

Namjoon is quick to respond when Jin sends him the message that he could speak to Jimin. He is out of the cafeteria and in the infirmary in less than a minute, disregarding the looks his pack members toss him as he rushes past. He enters the brightly lit room to find Jin looking endearingly at the omega in bed, shoveling an insane amount of food off a generously stacked plate. Though he still looks sickly, there is an undeniable glow to the small framed hybrid now, a healthy flush to his cheeks as he chipmunks what he cannot chew.

He looks up at Namjoon in alarm when the leader breaks the seal of the door, eyes wide as he takes in the unfamiliar person before him.

“You’re quick,” Jin comments, eyes still on the omega. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch.”

“I was done anyway,” replies Namjoon, who goes to stand beside his brother. Truthfully, he had just sat down with his plate when he was called, but this situation takes precedent over hunger. He needs to size the omega up quick, needs information to form a final decision he can deliver to the wondering pack members. “Park Jimin, right?” he asks the omega, who seems to have lost his appetite as he hands Jin the still full plate and forces whatever is in his mouth down. “Please, don’t stop on my account. I’ve just been curious to meet you. I’m Kim Namjoon, the Kim Pack Leader.” 

“My younger brother,” Jin adds, as if this additional clarification will ease the omega’s mind more. “Shall I leave you two to speak, or…?” He ends the question there when Jimin shakes his head panickily.

The last thing Namjoon wants is to scare someone in Jimin’s condition. Though he doesn’t have the full story just yet, it’s clear this omega has been through things, traumatizing things. And Namjoon knows all too well the toll trauma can take on a hybrid’s psyche. It’s the human part of them, the frustrating part that they cannot control. Not that they can control their animal side all that well either, but that’s beside the point.

“Jimin, how about a tour of the Compound when you finish your lunch?”

Jimin eyes the door before him as if it is a window to the wonders that lie outside. “I-I’m finished,” he says quietly, turning to address Jin.

The trust his hyung has managed to build with the omega is obvious. He recalls what Hyuna and Jin have divulged to him so far, and wonders if the man’s aversion to him is due to some sort of mistrust in alphas, or simply Namjoon himself.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to join,” Jin tells him with an apologetic smile. “We have a shipment coming in soon, and I need to stock and organize the infirmary. But Namjoon is great company…when he’s not acting all full of himself.”

Namjoon knows the jab is sarcastic, meant to alleviate the omega’s discomfort. But Jimin’s eyes widen even more, an endearing sight, he must admit, and he looks between the two men in shock.

“Eat,” Namjoon tells him, just a hint of authority in his naturally demanding tone. “And then you and I will go explore. Jin will remain with us until the trucks arrive.”

As if he’s been imposed to do so, Jimin reaches out for the plate again, wary of the two watching him, and proceeds to slowly go through the mountain on his plate.

Jimin is quiet as he follows Namjoon around the Compound, though he listens carefully to every description the Leader offers of the grand home. He first walks him to the cafeteria, explains how they eat communally throughout the day, how food is available to him whenever he may need it. It’s a concept foreign to him, having come from a pack that feeds its omegas whenever their mate goes on a hunt and only after they have had their fill first. He tells him of the many rooms throughout the building that house pack members, interesting because he only knows of mud huts. Even the most natural of bodily functions has its own room, split into stalls just like the shower room. Rather than crouching somewhere out in the forest, this pack uses things called toilets. And when he has to follow Namjoon up many stairs as they explore the upper floors, his already sore legs nearly give under him.

He doesn’t complain, however. Not to this alpha, not to the Leader. He fears saying anything that will send him back into the forest, back to his pack. Back to his mate.

“We’ve worked very hard for our home to advance as much as it has,” Namjoon is saying as Jimin puffs quietly behind, doing his best to keep up with the Leader’s long strides. They are walking the length of the last floor now, and Jimin begins to lose feeling in his legs. “It’s taken us years to develop a system that ensures the safety and security of the pack. Which is why I have to tread with caution when a new hybrid is amongst us. It’s not common these days. I believe you’ve lived through the war?”

Namjoon has been asking such questions all throughout the tour, none of which Jimin has answered. But he has indeed lived through the war despite not seeing much of it. His pack had done a wonderful job in keeping the betas and omegas protected during those times, times during which his fellow pack members disappeared to never return. Many omegas had lost their mates, broken bonds rendering them useless. What he knows of the war is what the alphas who had come back told him of it; outsiders were threatening their way of life, targeting omegas. They were trying to take away their right to breed, to bare and carry pups. They were tearing families apart, kidnapping omegas and pups from their homes. Which is why the breeding initiative had been established. Because his pack has never been able to recover from those times.

Not knowing which side of the fight this Namjoon and his people were on, Jimin keeps his lips sealed.

They come upon a window that grants them a wide view of the grounds outside the building. It’s Jimin’s first look outdoors since being couped up in the infirmary, and his breath is taken away with the brightness of it all. He grips the edge of the frame to keep balanced, legs shaking slightly as he forces himself to remain upright.

There are no trees for a mile out, adding to the grandeur of the place. The sun shines down freely at the members walking back and forth from the hut to a huddle of black objects Jimin cannot name. The objects are large, massive, and they stand next to a glass hut that looks to be filled with plants. The members carry things from the objects and into the building.

Everything is so new. The faces, the view, the personalities, that Jimin forgets who he’s with when he asks, “What are those?”

Namjoon’s low, even tone reminds him, and he goes red at having slipped in this moment of wonder.

“They’re vehicles,” Namjoon explains. “Trucks, to be exact. They don’t have these where you come from, do they?” he guesses.

Jimin shakes his head, wants to ask what they do. As if reading his mind, Namjoon begins to explain.

“They’re machines that can transport people. Every week we take them out to the city to purchase supplies. It’s how we keep this place running.”

Why someone would need a transportation machine when they can simply shift and get where they need to be, Jimin doesn’t understand. But he decides he’s used up his quota of communicating with the leader for the day, and keeps his curiosities to himself.

“Ready?” Namjoon asks minutes later, when he feels they’ve had their fill of sunlight. He steps away from the window before Jimin can respond.

The omega makes to follow, but quickly realizes the feeling in his legs is nonexistent. A small gasp escapes him, and he closes his eyes, bracing for impact…

“Hey!” Namjoon’s hands move quickly to catch him, gripping him underneath his arms before he hits the concrete floor. Jimin’s heartrate picks up in a panic, embarrassed, annoyed with this weak display of his body, so he keeps his eyes sealed. He can feel the alpha’s breath float across his face, too close for comfort, but he can’t push him away, not unless he wants to fall into a pathetic heap before him. “Sorry, I should have realized this is too much walking for one day.”

Jimin remains quiet, mainly because he doesn’t know how to react to an alpha offering an apology.

“My room is just around the corner. Why don’t we rest in there for a minute before heading back down?”

Even he is surprised with himself when tears spring to his eyes, the same powerlessness he has felt for so long with his pack creeping over him. He doesn’t want to enter this alpha’s room, he doesn’t, he doesn’t…

“Everything okay?”

Jimin swallows hard. It’s no question this place is different by all definitions of the word. He feels if he rejects this alpha no harm will be done to him. But it is built into his being to follow without question, to give without taking, and saying ‘no’ to an alpha is the ultimate form of subordination. It calls for cruel punishment, punishment Jimin has had enough of. But he can’t bring himself to utter that one seemingly simple word. _No_. 

He waits for the familiar tug of imposition, the sensation of his brain disconnecting from his nerves and his body submitting of its own accord.

It never comes.

Instead, Namjoon says, “We can rest out here instead,” and lowers himself onto the ground, patting the space next to him in invitation.

This, Jimin quickly follows, stretching his pajama clad legs out in a relieved sigh as pressure is taken off them. How long he has walked, how long he has been gone from his pack, he has no idea, and he doesn’t want to think about it now. When the wonder of this new place wares off he’ll allow himself time to fret. Right now he is simply tired, confused, and contentedly full.

“What do you think of our place?” Namjoon asks just as Jimin finds his eyelids drooping without his consent.

The question catches him off guard.

He sees that keeping up a silent front with the Leader will not be something he will be able to commit to for long, but above his fear of the authority leaders hold, he fears the rejection of this pack more. So his response is short and succinct when he replies with, “Nice.”

“Jin and Hyuna have told me about your pack, Jimin. The Silmul’s, right?”

He shouldn’t be shocked that word has already reached the Leader. In fact, it’s more shocking that the alpha hadn’t come to confront him until now. Still, he can’t help but feel betrayed by Hyuna, a fellow omega, and Jin. Though an alpha, the Healer doesn’t come off as one. At least, not like the ones Jimin knows.

Namjoon continues calmly, his tone one would use to address a pup. “They also tell me that you can’t remember the name of your mate. Is that true?”

Jimin hesitates before nodding, ultimately deciding on sticking to the lie.

“Here’s the thing, Park Jimin,” Namjoon goes on. “I believe what you tell us about your pack. I believe that they have been unfair to you. But I can’t allow a strange omega to stumble upon my territory and give him a home when I know that he isn’t being entirely truthful with me or my people.”

If he talks, they will know exactly where to send him back to. If he doesn’t, they’ll throw him out into the forest to wander again. To starve. The need to cry nearly overwhelms him.

“We’ll do this slowly,” Namjoon tells him. “I won’t ask you to tell me everything all at once. But when I ask you a question, you must answer. And you must answer honestly. Deal?”

For the first time since being in the presence of the alpha, Jimin manages to bring himself to look him in the eye. His dark eyes are hard, intimidating, and Jimin shrinks into himself ever so slightly. “And I—I can stay?” he asks, eyes pleading, begging.

Namjoon offers him a smile, a set of dimples appearing that work to soften the hardened look all alphas seem to possess. “Hyuna already promised, didn’t she? But I need your cooperation to make that happen. So, deal?”

Jimin doesn’t need to think twice.

When all the supplies are unpacked and transferred to their respective departments, and when he safely deposits Jimin back at the infirmary, Namjoon oversees the inventory and double checks that everything he has been promised is delivered. He finishes his round in the pantry, satisfied with the week’s haul, and thanks the cooks for allowing him to take up some of their time. He then heads for the basement, to the mating rooms, to meet Hyuna.

Hyuna is just emerging from one of the newly empty rooms, masked and gloved up, a sealed bag of dirty sheets, pillow cases, and toys held out before her. Solar disappears into the room then, equipped with cleaning supplies to sanitize.

“Alpha,” Hyuna greets him, high voice muffled by the mask. “Checking inventory?”

Namjoon smiles in greeting, yesterday’s indiscretion already in the past. “You’re working hard, Head Omega.”

“So are you, Leader. Boxes are all the way at the back of the hall. I’m replacing all the old coverings with the new. Thanks for the toys, by the way,” she adds, winking. “I already know which ones you’ll be stalking your claims to.”

Namjoon is too accustomed to her uninhibited remarks to blush. “I hope you’ve set them aside for me.”

“I’ve set them next to the boxes. Now if you’ll excuse me…” She walks past him to dispose of the overused supplies.

Namjoon begins his count of the contents of the many boxes stacked there before inspecting what’s been reserved for him. Being the only alpha in the place who chooses to experience his ruts alone, it’s been agreed upon by the majority that he gets to keep the toys he chooses. Where others may use them to increase their pleasure during their heats and such, he uses them out of necessity. It’s not that he’s opposed to the idea of inviting an omega to accompany him during a hybrid’s most volatile and vulnerable moments. It’s just that he fears his animal instincts will lead him to doing something he will regret.

The pain of his lost mate still not lost on him, not with the mark that continues to bind him to a phantom, Namjoon has not had an omega to himself in some time now. There was a period after the war, when lonely ruts were an unbearable idea still, that he did seek the help and comfort of his pack members. But his last had been a close call, a memory that still fills him with guilt whenever he recalls it, and ever since he’s endured alone. In his room, all possible crevices sealed with whatever material he can use to keep his scent from escaping, he endured. To this day he wonders how in the name of the stars Jungkook is able to keep himself from mating Taehyung when the two are absolutely enthralled with each other. Despite what Jungkook may think of him, the younger alpha is a much stronger person than Namjoon could ever be.

Inventory completed, he heads back to the first floor, just one more location on his list; the greenhouse. Outside, the summer sun beats down hard, striking the back of his neck as soon as he exits. The fighters continue their unloading of the imports, working on their last truck now. The few catch sight of him wave as he passes by, and he thanks them for their hard work. Making the trip into human territory is always a nerve wracking ordeal when your job is to always expect the worse.

Jackson spots him heading into the currently unmanned greenhouse and jumps down from the truck, his teammates eyeing him warily as he jogs steadily towards the Leader.

“Namjoon!” Jackson calls when he is sure he hasn’t been followed.

The Leader stops mid count of a basket of jalapeno seeds, turns around slowly to face the Tactical Supervisor. “How was your trip?” he asks unknowingly.

“That’s what I’m here to speak to you about,” Jackson says gravely. “There was an incident.”

Interest immediately piqued, Namjoon lowers the clipboard he is keeping record on and faces the alpha full on. “Tell me.”

Jackson is not one to sugarcoat things. He’s straightforward, spares no details, gives a play by play of what happened without leaving out even his own actions and reactions.

The story is peculiar; a hybrid who looks the way Jackson describes brings to mind the uninhabited packs Namjoon remembers from the warring days. Packs who live truly animalistic, ones who give off the air of not being in touch with their human side even in human form. He sees why Jackson would find this worrisome, because it is something to worry about.

“The others and I didn’t discuss it,” Jackson concludes, “but I think we all know who that alpha was looking for.”

Yes, Namjoon realizes this too. There is only one mated omega he knows of who could be considered missing, and that omega is currently being nursed back to health in their very infirmary. He’s surprised that it’s taken this long to come across someone in search of Jimin; mated alphas can sense when their mates are in distress, are typically out of control until they’ve got their property back. Then again, a mated omega should not be able to so easily walk away from their alpha and their bond the way Jimin has.

What’s more surprising, however, is why the alpha would be searching in human territory before ensuring to check in with every known pack.

“I wondered the same,” Jackson admits when Namjoon expresses the thought aloud. “And his actions only make sense if he never expected his omega to run away to another pack in the first place.”

The enigma that is Park Jimin only continues to grow.

“When he doesn’t find the omega amongst the humans, he’s bound to go looking through other packs,” Jackson points out. “And if he discovers him here and sees that we’ve continued hiding his mate when we know to whom he belongs…”

“We’ll have a target on our backs,” Namjoon finishes for him, worrying his bottom lip at the unsettling development.

“Exactly.” Jackson takes a step back, his job done. “I trust you’ll make the necessary decisions and announce them at our next meeting,” he says in farewell, and with that he heads back out to supervise the fighters.

Namjoon remains in his spot, the Tactical Supervisor’s last words echoing in his mind. Yes, as leader he does have necessary decisions to make. Yes, the safety and wellbeing of his pack come before anything and everything else. But the implications of this development don’t sit well with him. After all, the Kim Pack would not exist in the first place if he and his army had not taken in the defectors of the past.

Though times have changed, though Namjoon’s philosophy has chipped away, his empathy has not. And he hopes the board will feel the same as him when the time comes.

«««

Taehyung has already lost count of how many times his alpha has cum, but he does know that he himself has orgasmed twice, and that’s enough to knock him out for the remainder of the day. But having been partners with him for as long he has, his stamina has become unmatched.

He rolls over on the blanket beneath them, resting his body for the few minutes he can while Jungkook comes down from his fresh high. Before him rushes the waterfall, a curtain of foam as it hits the river a few feet beneath them harshly. A light mist travels into the cave they hide in, cooling down both hybrids’ heated human forms, refreshing on their bare skin. They could not have found a better place for Jungkook to carry out his rut, a more romantic setting cannot possibly exist. Taehyung allows his mind to wander—if only for a second—of what a heat would feel like in here. Of how his wolf instincts would howl as he takes his partner’s knot, filling him up, breeding him—

“Babe,” Jungkook says from behind, and Taehyung rolls over to face his naked alpha again. The man’s overgrown dark hair is tied up in a messy ponytail, wet from sweat and mist, his perfectly sculpted body glistening in the sunlight glowing askew through the fall. His cock looks just as hard as when they started, red and angry, beckoning Taehyung forth.

Taehyung bites his bottom lip subconsciously, deep seated hopes and wishes drowned out by the deafening sound of the water and Jungkook’s blinding beauty. He pushes himself onto his hands and knees, crawls over to his waiting alpha who takes him around the waist with one arm and easily lifts him to sit over his thighs, burgeoning erection pressed between their abdomens.

“You look so tasty,” Taehyung sighs, body going lax in the firm grip, head lolling to the side to give him free reign over his pulse point.

Jungkook inhales his mate’s—no, not his mate, not yet—his _partner’s_ ripe strawberry scent, an uninhibited growl ripping through his body as the natural instinct to bite sends goosebumps crawling across his body, itching to do just that. But he needs to keep himself in check no matter the animalistic temptations of a rut, because Taehyung had asked him not to. Not yet. Instead, he clamps his teeth down against the omega’s jugular gently, releasing a wave of fresh pheromones from the hot body pressed flush against him, reveling in the short gasp that escapes Taehyung’s full lips.

“Alpha,” Taehyung moans, forehead falling against Jungkook’s shoulder, whole being shuddering. “Alpha!”

Jungkook grips his throbbing cock, eyes locked between him and Taehyung as he lifts his partner up, positioning himself just at the entrance. One confirming nod from the omega and he’s once again impaled on the hard muscle, stuttering gasps escaping him as Jungkook resumes fucking into him without abandon.

He wraps his arms and legs around the alpha, holding on dearly for fear of being dislodged. The breath is knocked out of him over and over as Jungkook’s thighs rise to slap against his buttocks, the lewd noise getting lost in the rush of the waterfall, Jungkook’s grunting just loud enough to echo lightly throughout the hollow cave.

“Ungh! So good for me,” the alpha grunts, head thrown back as he digs his fingers into the omega’s hips, fingers reaching bone. Taehyung whimpers at the mixture of pleasure and pain, but he doesn’t protest. In fact, he keens at the opposing sensations, body stimulated beyond comprehension. “Good little omega. My omega. Mine.”

“All yours.”

“You feel so good!”

“Mm…more!”

“So pretty, so— _ungh_!—so perfect. Just for me.”

“Just for you!”


	4. The Vote

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pack Heads bring Jimin's fate to a final vote, with some heads vehemently against bringing a potentially new danger to their pack. Meanwhile Jimin, for the first time in his life, feels like an 'other' at some underhanded treatment from some pack members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last of the short chapters. after this one, the ride gets wild!
> 
> cw/tw:  sex in wolf form, mentions of issues conceiving. otherwise, this chapter is pretty safe.

Taehyung falls onto his back, a sweaty and cum covered mess. He needs to catch his breath, Jungkook’s rut making it difficult to do so when his wolf can’t settle down. That’s the thing about heats and ruts though; they make one forget their human needs, disregard any and all emotion. The only driving force is the instinct to mate, to breed, clouding any and all rationality. Which is how Taehyung knows how difficult it must be for Jungkook to hold back biting him.

But the alpha seems to be pacified with the chaste nips to his omega’s pulse point, pointed teeth catching and releasing just before breaking skin. The action elicits low moans from Taehyung, whose own wolf is bated but can’t help but keen wantonly at the closeness of it all.

Jungkook is giving him a break, lying on his side next to Taehyung’s prone body, grinding against his thigh instead of fucking into him. In his faded state the omega registers the unsatisfied whimpers of his partner, the drag of his cock against skin not enough to quell the heat that licks at his insides. But he’s so out of it, so tired, his human body aching.

“Alpha,” he groans, Jungkook’s arms snaking around him, finding purchase in his hips as he grips him closer to increase the friction. “A— _uh_!—alpha.”

Jungkook’s grinding slows, hot breath puffing desperately against Taehyung’s neck.

“Let’s shift,” he pleads, voice an incomprehensible whine as Jungkook moves a hand to grasp the omega’s soft dick. Taehyung’s abdomen tightens, but his cock does not respond to the stimulation, spent.

Even in rut, Jungkook needs for his partner to enjoy the process as well. Taehyung is not just any omega, he’s _his_ omega. His body doesn’t simply exist to please Jungkook. Though not in heat, it breaks Jungkook’s heart to see his partner give and give when his body clearly cannot handle any more.

Jungkook grunts, inner wolf annoyed when there is no longer something to grind against as he peels himself away from the limp body underneath.

Taehyung exhales in relief.

Jungkook shifts first, his bones crackling as they extend and accommodate his new form.

It’s nightfall outside the rocky tavern, their third here. A blue glow illuminates Taehyung’s naked body as his furs begin to sprout, his ears begin to take shape. Within seconds there are two wolves standing in the cave, the thicker, more muscular one a light shade of mahogany; the smaller a deep black. The alpha descends on his omega, who responds immediately by crouching low, back turned. Jungkook leans on his haunches, cock distended as he places himself behind the omega. He first buries his nose in the black wolf’s furs, scenting him, comforting him, apologizing. Taehyung submits, his natural instinct to please tenfold in his shifted form, head bowed to allow the mahogany wolf to do as he pleases.

Jungkook positions himself at Taehyung’s entrance, the head of his twitching cock catching on the opening. He begins to pant, his need to mate heightened. Taehyung flinches beneath him as the cock pushes into him, inch by inch until the alpha is buried deep within. Jungkook licks him some more, right over the jugular, right where his teeth itch to sink in, to mark. And though his human mind is long gone now, given way to every animalistic instinct that possesses a hybrid, he has the sense of mind to keep himself from giving in to that one urge.

He bucks into the omega once, twice, getting accustomed to their forms until he no longer has power over himself and begins a rhythm of relentless fucking. Like this, there is only one concept in his head, one image that floats through his wild mind, and it’s one of his omega full of his seed, round with his pups. After all, what for is the feral necessity of a rut if not to breed?

But that’s not possible for them, a fact that would have had Jungkook weeping in his human form. Like this, he can momentarily look past the limitations of his omega and carry out his rut without being an emotional wreck.

Still, his wolf senses something is wrong when he is compelled to howl. A high, sad sound that rings throughout the cave, echoes outside the waterfall; a sound that would break the hearts of those who hear it, submit them to wail if they understood the pain.

Taehyung whimpers, his bones rattling at the sound. When Jungkook’s howl dies down he returns the sound louder, sadder, despaired.

The alpha’s rut is dying down, the omega can smell the arousal fading. Taehyung lies across Jungkook’s human chest, fingers tangled in his hair. Jungkook’s larger arms link around the omega’s naked waist, rubbing his skin gently, trying to keep him warm. They have only packed one spare outfit each, and they need them for the trip back to the Compound.

“How do you feel?” his alpha asks softly, not at all perturbed by the tight grip of his hair.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you?” But in reality, Taehyung needs not ask. He can read his alpha better than his own self, and the man and the wolf are both sated, at least for now.

“I know this can’t be easy on you,” Jungkook murmurs against Taehyung’s temple, crushing him closer, guilt he doesn’t understand bleeding into his heart.

Taehyung sighs, buries his face in the crook of the younger’s shoulders. “It’s not,” he admits, voice muffled against moist skin. “But I love you.”

“And I, you.” Jungkook kisses the top of his head once. “I want to say I’m sorry, but I know it’s in neither of our hands.”

“Your apology would mean nothing anyway,” Taehyung tells him, not bitter towards his alpha in the least. “It’s—my body. My body has failed me—” He stops there, swallowing back the tears he has been too exhausted to let go.

Jungkook hears the catch in his voice, keeps himself composed for the sake of his partner. “ _Shh!_ We don’t know why these things happen, but there must be a reason.”

“Like what?” and Taehyung almost sounds petulant when he asks. He has a right to be. He has a right to be furious, and sad, and disappointed, and just utterly broken that he can’t provide for his alpha the one thing omegas are built to provide. If he can’t bear children…if he can’t help Jungkook build a family, then…

Jungkook’s claim is sure, tone soothing when he says, “We are meant to love just each other, you and me. The gods know pups will distract us, distance us. We aren’t meant to part in the slightest.”

The omega has to bite his lip to keep from bawling. Here he is, in the naked arms of his lover, meant to be aiding him through his rut. And yet he’s the one being consoled.

“You don’t mean that,” he whines quietly, only wanting to hear the words again.

“My heart and my affection are meant to reach one person and one person only,” Jungkook continues, just as sure. “And that’s you, My Omega.”

The pain in Taehyung’s chest falls away slightly, making way for a giggle threatening to overtake him. He can’t see what’s funny about the moment, about their situation. But he can lay here all day and night to hear Jungkook’s ridiculously endearing proclamations, true or not. 

However, there is one thing he can give his alpha. One act of selflessness he is willing to suffer if it means Jungkook gets the family he deserves…the mate he deserves.

“When the need for a pup to carry on your bloodline is overbearing…”

“It won’t ever be.”

He peels himself off the alpha’s chest to look him in the eyes, to make it clear that he is by no means joking. “When the need for a pup to carry on your bloodline is overbearing,” he repeats slowly, swallows back a fresh wave of emotion begging to burst out of him. “You have my permission to find another—”

Jungkook quiets him with a kiss, mouth angry, jaw clenched. It isn’t meant to be one of passion or gratitude, but of silencing. “Don’t you dare,” the alpha growls, grip around Taehyung’s waist strengthening.

Taehyung can’t help the gasp that pulls itself out of him, the sob that rips through his worn out body. Over the sound of his cries and the rush of the ever flowing waterfall, Jungkook continues his aggressive declarations of undying, irreplaceable love, reminding him over and over that no one—not now, not ever, not under any circumstances—will ever be as good as Taehyung is for him. And even though Taehyung hears and believes him, his wolf cannot stop agonizing for the family they should be.

««««

Hyuna watches patiently as Jimin eyes the pills splayed before him. He weighs them with suspicion, finding it hard to believe that something so simple looking could have the power to stifle his scent, to keep alphas at bay.

“They won’t come at me?” he clarifies, rolling a red pill away with his finger, catching it just before it falls off the edge of the table.

They sit in Hyuna’s room around the coffee table she has in the corner. Jimin is well enough now that he doesn’t need to spend any more time in the infirmary, but because of his refusal to take these pills, he hasn’t been allowed to walk freely amongst the Kim Pack members. He’s sick of being locked up inside. He wants fresh air. He wants sunlight and the green scent of the outdoors. But Namjoon—curse him and all leaders alike—hasn’t allowed him to. All because of these pills.

“Our alphas won’t come at you whether you take the pill or not,” Hyuna assures him. “They have more self-control than that. Muting your scent just makes it easier on them.”

“And do they take pills to keep our instincts at bay?” he questions scornfully, doubtful that any alpha, stars forbid, should stoop so low as to make an omega’s life manageable.

Which is why he feels a tug of shame when Hyuna easily replies with, “Of course,” as if there should be no question about it. “Alphas aren’t the only ones with urges, y’know.”

With a sigh, he gathers the three pills he’s been hoarding in his pockets ever since the Healer discharged him and drops them all at once into his open mouth. He does just as he’s been directed, swallowing them down with a large gulp of water. He sets the cup down, stares blankly at the brown table before him, waiting.

He doesn’t feel anything.

“I don’t feel anything.”

Hyuna smiles reassuringly. “You won’t. In a few minutes they will take effect and you won’t notice any changes. But those around you will.”

Although still skeptical, his mind is in awe that such a thing could possibly exist. Oh, what he would have given to mute his scent from the second he presented.

“Can I go outside now?” he wonders when minutes have passed. The Head Omega nods, leaving his side to lie back in bed. Jimin is out the door before she can ask what his plans are for the day, but Jimin has no plans. Feeling better than he ever has, he simply wants to _be_.

He bounds the stairs from the fifth floor, heart thrumming at the idea of walking around without worry of being attacked. He nearly trips on the third floor, feet moving too fast to keep his body stable. He catches himself on one of the railings just before tumbling into the body of someone walking in the opposite direction.

“Whoa!” the woman shouts, hands shooting out to catch him. But Jimin is upright before she can touch, sinking backwards and away from her helping hands.

She’s an alpha. He can smell the authority wafting off her, though not as powerful as one might expect. Not powerful enough to draw an omega to her.

“You good?” she questions, lips taught in a friendly smile.

Jimin nods, pressing his back against the railing, creating as much distance between them as possible. At this assurance, she continues walking on up the stairs, not sparing him a second glance.

He exhales.

The first floor is busier than the rest as pack members come and go. Everyone always has something to do, that’s a fact he picked up on quickly during his short stay. Night time is for play, day time is for work for alphas, omegas, and betas alike. Jimin wants to work, too. Jimin wants to be a part of it all, wants to blend in with this pack, to be treated as just another person with things to take care of and friends to laugh with. The atmosphere is much brighter than his born pack’s, and he knows it has nothing to do with the mystery of the indoor lights.

“Park Jimin!” someone shouts his name. He whips around in the throng of people walking into the building, searching for the source. He finds it in the form of a young looking man and stone faced woman, both walking in his direction. He hasn’t had much interaction with anyone other than Jin, Hyuna, Hwasa, and Namjoon, so it surprises him that these two strangers know his name.

The man, who is a few inches taller and with a head of thick black hair, claps him on the back, straight teeth bared in a grin. “Good to finally see you out in the open, man. I’ve been wanting to meet the new guy forever. Yugyeom,” he says, holding a hand out for Jimin to take.

Jimin stares at the hand with shaky eyes. He can smell a hint of cotton coming off him, an alpha, so he takes a step back. Yugyeom’s smile falters, hand dropping awkwardly to his side, swiping at his pants.

The woman laughs, amused. “Women don’t want you. Men don’t want you.” She punches the alpha roughly, an action that elicits a gasp from Jimin when he realizes she’s an omega. “Chae-rin,” she introduces herself loudly, forcing Jimin to take her hand and shake it. “Nice to finally meet you. I don’t know if you know, but you’ve become something of an overnight celebrity around here.”

“A celebrity?”

“Everyone’s been wanting a glimpse of the cute new omega. Come here, let me show you around.”

He’s just about to explain that the Leader already has when she throws a rough arm around his shoulder and begins to drag him towards the door, out the building. He was already heading in that direction, so he doesn’t protest.

When fresh air hits him, he inhales like he’s been deprived his entire life. In a sense, he has. Though his pack lives traditionally, their only home the wilderness, there weren’t many freedoms to being an omega. Which is why he is so taken with the pups who roam around the place without supervision, with the betas and omegas who are in and out of building as the alphas are. He had merely wanted to venture away from his home, no destination in mind (not that he knew what lay outside the territory). He had wanted to prove that Hoseok, his sneaky friend, was wrong; that every pack lived as they do. And though he hasn’t seen much of the Kim Pack and what they have to offer, it’s clear that Hoseok was right all this time. The way omegas are allowed to be so casual around their alphas is enough proof that the Kim Pack is _different_. A different that Jimin has hoped for ever since being mated.

“Everyone in our pack has a job, Park Jimin,” Chae-rin says, muscular arm vice-like around his shoulders.

He peers up at her, a woman just slightly taller than he, her beauty unconventional. If it weren’t for her scent he would have believed she is an alpha.

“I don’t know what life is like with your pack—and I don’t care to know, either—but here, we all work for the betterment of each other.” She steers him towards the greenhouse. “Namjoon introduced you to this place, right?”

There it is again, the casual mention of their Leader, no honorifics, nothing.

“Y-yes,” Jimin stutters along, shuffling quickly to keep up. The Leader had, the day after their first tour, once Jimin’s legs no longer felt like electrified jelly.

“Good.” Chae-rin steers him to the entrance of the greenhouse, plants growing like vines against its interior. It’s an inviting sight, captivating with its reds, yellows, and greens, but Jimin is confused as to why she brought him here. “Now, just because you’re a newbie, and just because no one knows what the deal with you is yet, doesn’t mean you can lounge around all day eating our food without giving anything in return. Seulgi!” she shouts.

A blonde alpha, fair skinned, cheeks flushed, responds to the call. “Yup?” She turns to see Jimin by Chae-rin’s side and her red painted lips break out into a bashful smile. “Oh! Chae-rin…” She sets down the metal tool she had been clipping a few plants with and saunters over to them, eyes eagerly eating Jimin up. She reaches a soiled glove out for him to shake.

Youngjae is absolutely baffled when Jimin does, albeit hesitantly, earning him a mocking chortle from Chae-rin. She gives Jimin a rough pat on the back. “Our guest, Park Jimin. He’ll be giving you a hand in here until Namjoon figures out what to do with him.”

Jimin’s breath hitches. What does she mean, _what to do with him_? He had been on his best behavior, and even better around the Leader.

Seulgi’s smile never falters. “Do you know how to plant, Jimin?” she asks sweetly, wrists on her hips to keep from dirtying her outfit.

He needs to clear his throat of the lump of fear there before plastering on a smile. “No. But I know to gather. It was one of my specialties…” _with my old pack_ , he wants to say, but thinks better of coming off as nostalgic.

“Was?” she repeats worriedly, eyeing Chae-rin doubtfully.

“Oh, come on Seulgi. Look at him.”

Jimin looks, too. At his barely-there legs, his sunken abdomen that looks emaciated even beneath his shirt, his boney wrists. He’s always looked like this. What’s wrong with looking like this?

“He’s clearly too small to be a fighter, can barely keep up with me let alone chase the pups around, and I doubt Youngjae wants an uninhabited working construction.”

Jimin barely knows what any of that means, but takes offense at the inconsiderate tone of her voice and the way she gives him a little shove towards the female alpha. He’s never liked anyone speaking for him, and he especially does not like another omega speaking on his behalf.

“I don’t want to gather,” he speaks up argumentatively, facing Chae-rin, and even he can’t help but wince at the childishly moody way it comes out of him. “I want to fight.”

The glances he receives are warranted, his lie blatant. He doesn’t want to fight. He just doesn’t want this Chae-rin going around telling people what he can and can’t do.

Seulgi sighs from behind him, exasperated. “Come on Jimin,” she says, her voice sweet even as she feels burdened by this useless omega she needs to babysit. “The strawberries are ripe. I was going to start on them next. You can start there.”

Namjoon scans the grounds from the fifth floor window, watches emotionlessly as Chae-rin drags the small omega towards the greenhouse. She’s an insistent one, a tough one, but maybe it is good idea for her to befriend Jimin. The omega looks to need a bit of a toughening up.

Hyuna comes to stand by his side, hands crossed over her chest. “He took the pills.”

“I figured. You wouldn’t allow him to roam if he hasn’t.”

They watch in silence as Wheein gathers the pups and begins hoarding them towards the forest, to the clearing.

“It worries me, how much he doesn’t know of the world,” Hyuna expresses, sounding oddly fond of the omega. Even she hates the softness in her voice.

“Has he told you anymore about his home pack?” The omega doesn’t say much to Namjoon, and the leader doesn’t believe in using his imposition to compel him to speak. Besides, even if he does resort to that, the Head Omega would have his head.

“Not much. There are just bits and pieces he reveals in casual conversation. I can tell you he hates his pack. I can tell you he wants to stay with us. And I can tell you I’m going to cut Jackson Wang’s balls off if he continues his political bullshit.”

Namjoon nearly chokes on a laugh at that last part, but one look at her stony face tells him she’ll do it. “What’s going on?”

She turns her slim frame to face him full on, cheeks hollowed in annoyance. “He’s been going around to the Head’s, telling them of his run-in with a scary and mean looking alpha at the warehouse.”

Ah! Old habits die hard. “He’s done that whenever anyone has joined the pack. This is nothing new.”

“Nothing new, but we both know how comfortable the pack has gotten with the normal we’ve established here. There are talks even amongst the omegas that they don’t want an outsider initiated into the pack. They want to throw him out before they even get to know him.”

Maybe it isn’t such a good idea to allow Chae-rin to befriend him.

Namjoon knows her words are right. It’s a rare moment when he can admit Hyuna is wrong, anyhow. Maybe it’s because the two of them see eye to eye on many things, or maybe it’s the fact that they have known each other nearly their entire lives. Whatever it is, he senses her worries, and he reciprocates.

“What are your plans for him?” she wants to know.

Namjoon has too much faith in his pack members to need a plan for this. Many of them have been in the omega’s position at one time or another, have lived horrors of their own with unfair pack leaders and the likes. He alone cannot decide the fate of this guest; his decision will certainly be biased one.

But he doesn’t say as much to Hyuna, prefers to keep the inner workings of his mind to himself.

“I don’t have any, not yet,” he says instead.

“You’re the Leader. How can you—?” She stops when he glances down at her coldly, eyes glowing amber.

Namjoon doesn’t need to be reminded of who or what he is. “You have a point. But so does Jackson,” he says sternly. “As the _Leader_ ,” he hisses the last word out, “my responsibilities are to consider everyone’s wants. If Jackson Wang is being political and turning the pack against the idea of inviting Jimin in, then go be just as political and convince them otherwise. We vote on this just as we do everything else.”

The physical labor doesn’t bother Jimin; he has had to gather the most elusive of herbs and berries in the worst of conditions. But with so many freedoms awaiting him outside the greenhouse, so many other jobs to be indulging in, resorted to being a ‘picker’ is not what he wants. Nevertheless—not one to half ass any command he’s been given—he does a wonderful job picking the ripe strawberries and sets his full basket down next to Seulgi, who is nearly done trimming another row of plants.

“I’m going to go now,” he announces with power.

She eyes the basket doubtfully, rummages through the fruit for a second, before flashing him a pleased smile. “Jimin, you’ve done a wonderful job. Thank you for the help.”

He nearly skips out of the greenhouse, elated with the rare expression of acknowledgement.

The pups are no longer in sight, the grounds mostly emptied of people now. At the very front of the building gather the toughest looking of the pack he has seen so far, among them Chae-rin and Yugyeom. He inches closer to the group, intrigued at finally having a view not constricted to the glass window on the fifth floor.

The fighters are a mean looking bunch, all hard muscle and precision. The alphas of his pack had looked similar, just as powerful. But whereas the Silmul’s only ever allowed alphas to venture off their land, to hunt, fight, and protect, it is a sight to behold that amongst these tough and lean fighters are omegas, and even betas. Of all the stories Hoseok had told of packs whose betas are not simply relegated to being servants, he never mentioned seeing betas who were accepted as just as strong, just as worthwhile, as the others. If only Hoseok knew…if only he knew that something like this exists for him somewhere…would he have run away, too?

Jimin gets the sense that he is being watched, and a short turn of his head proves this true. The alpha leading the fighters, a man wearing a scowl, eyes him mercilessly. He doesn’t even look away when they make eye contact. Jimin smiles smally, hoping it will soften the alpha’s features. Instead, the man’s nose flares and he finally turns away, minding his fighters again.

Jimin doesn’t let this bother him. He knows better than to be welcomed with open arms into anyone’s home. Hell, his own alpha had not even welcomed him fondly on their mating night. He can bare the cold looks of one if it means he gets to stay. Because the stars and all else above know he would die if he doesn’t.

««««

The Heads gather in the common area, arriving one by one over the span of half an hour. The sun has begun to settle outside the Compound, the pack members’ day winding down. Not surprisingly, Jin is the first to join Namjoon, choosing the seat farthest from him, right across the room. It’s easier to read his dongsaeng’s expression from here, gauge his body language as they do what they do.

He brings the topic up before anyone else joins, not having had a moment to speak to his brother alone the entire working day. “Jackson visited me in the infirmary today.”

Namjoon does not look surprised to hear this, not even worried. He dryly, insincerely says, “I hope he’s okay.”

“Perfect, actually. Came in for a regular checkup, said he hasn’t been feeling well lately. Checked out with a perfect bill of health, as usual.” The fighters usually do.

Another insincere statement: “Glad to hear.”

Namjoon is not a man of many words, Jin knows this. He has practically raised his brother, watched firsthand as he blossomed from a naïve and inconsiderate little shit to a leader with many opinions, many thoughts, and much turmoil. Turmoil that has nothing to do with himself, but with those around him. The man was always chastising those who acted on their sense of empathy, but no one feels empathy as crippling as Namjoon does. But because he knows him so well, he knows how to draw words from his brother’s lips.

“Jackson mentioned something about there being a threat to the pack. Is there?”

The Leader ponders his hyung from the corner of his eyes, chin rested on a fist, elbow set on the arm of the sofa he sits cross legged in. “If there were a threat, you would be one of the first to know.”

“That’s what I told him. So, he informed me of a hostile feral who is looking for Jimin. Says he met him on human territory.”

Namjoon closes his eyes, exhales through his nose. It bothers him, as far as Jin can see, that the Tactical Supervisor is trying to influence a vote.

“That he has. I checked in with those who accompanied him that day, and they tell the same story. About the meeting, not about the threat,” he clarifies.

Their conversation is cut short, but that’s no matter. Jin already knows his vote.

They’re joined by Jungkook and Taehyung, both their hair still dripping wet, any signs of their past weeks’ coital washed away. Jungkook rushes to take his seat, choosing next to Namjoon, while Taehyung hesitates at the door, grasping his knees to catch his breath.

“Where is everyone?” Jungkook asks, noting the emptiness of the room.

“Should be on their way.” Namjoon checks his watch. “Probably being lobbied by Jackson on their way here,” he adds sourly.

The look of confusion on Jungkook’s face is warranted, being out of the loop. Taehyung limps to join his alpha’s side, leans into him when he’s settled down. Jin notes the paleness of his skin, the sweat on his brow. He is aware of his condition, is the one who had to break the unfortunate news. He also knows there are no physically presenting symptoms to not being able to conceive. The omega is allowing his stress and anxiety wear him out.

It brings to mind a beta he once knew, one who lives undetected among humans as Jin once did. They had studied together, their area of study hybrids. Humans choose the subject because they are intrigued with the science behind what the shapeshifters can do, fearful of the physical superiority they hold over them. But for betas who choose the field, they seek to educate themselves on how to better the hybrid condition.

He misses those days, aches for them always. After 25 years as a beta, he had come to terms with the fact that he will never present, took hold of the advantages granted him and did good with them. And even though he was a full-fledged doctor by the time his first rut hit, he had been at an utter loss as to how to go about it. And, though he would never admit it to anyone except maybe his brother, he may have grown fond of a human or two.

In a matter of minutes a crowd of Heads files through the door, looks apologetic towards Namjoon who straightens his posture but remains looking bored, unimpressed. Following them at the heel is Jackson, who bows in respect despite knowing Namjoon does not care for the gesture.

Jin rolls his eyes. So, the alpha _has_ been playing dirty.

“Sorry for our tardiness, Alpha,” Hyuna says, already looking peeved.

“Sorry Alpha,” the others begin to repeat.

Namjoon waves down their apologies. He looks tired now, despite the meeting not having officially begun. He skips the formalities, gets right to the topic. “Our discussion today involves a progress report on the homes discussed last week, and a vote on the status of Park Jimin in our pack. We’ll begin with the homes. Youngjae.” He nods for the Resource Manager to speak.

Youngjae passes around a file with the paperwork he has organized to begin construction. Jin accepts a copy, scans the thoroughly compiled list and numbers. He doesn’t understand much of it, but the proposal has Youngjae’s signature of approval, meaning it’s within their resources to continue as planned.

The omega says just as much, though he elaborates to the listening and nodding Heads on the time it will take, the amount of man power they will need, and more.

“When will the project begin to take shape?” Namjoon asks, setting aside the paper without properly glancing at it. He wants this meeting to end, and fast. Or perhaps he wants to reach an agreement on the omega and clear the obvious tension.

“We can start excavating tomorrow,” Youngjae replies.

“Tomorrow it is then. You’ll have my signature before the conclusion of the meeting. Now…” He casts a nervous glance Hyuna’s way. She stares at the floor between the members, lips sealed. “I’d like to hear what you have been able to observe regarding the omega, Park Jimin.”

There are a few other nervous glances, Jackson receiving the brunt of them, suspiciously so. A few clear their throats, no one willing to speak up first. Just as Jin is about to kickstart the conversation, fed up with the display of childishness before him, Taehyung raises his hand to speak.

“May I?”

Namjoon nods for him to go ahead, quickly adding, “Remember, observations only. The vote will represent your opinions.”

The reminder is not for Taehyung, but for those who may allow the word of one to influence their decision, cloud their judgement.

“Right,” Taehyung says slowly. “Well, I haven’t seen much of him this week. But I did check in with Seulgi, and she informed me that he did a great job at the greenhouse. He has a background with plants, told her it was his job to forage back with his old pack…”

“His pack,” Jackson corrects him.

Taehyung blinks a few times, looks at the Tactical Supervisor blankly for a moment. “I’m sorry?”

“You said old pack. They’re still his pack, whoever they are.”

Taehyung licks his lips. If he suspected that the air in the room is more tense than it usually is, his suspicions are confirmed now. “He would do well at the greenhouse, if we vote to allow to him stay.” He sits back, leans into Jungkook once again. “That’s all.”

“But you didn’t see him work for yourself, right?” Jackson pipes in again, eyebrows raised. “You’ve been preoccupied and whatnot, so you have spent no actual time with him…”

“Seulgi is my eyes and ears while I’m gone…” Taehyung speaks over him.

“…your word doesn’t mean much in this meeting…”

“…just as Jungkook is yours…”

Jin looks to his brother, who typically would have stopped something like this to keep the order, so the discussion doesn’t fall apart. He finds the alpha absorbed in the argument, listening intently to both men as they argue, every now and then gauging the reactions of the others.

Taehyung is nearly shouting now, nose flared when he says, “…and I didn’t see you jump in with your observations when the Leader asked, so why don’t you wait your turn, _Alpha_?”

The room goes silent once more, the tension thicker now, all eyes avoiding.

Jin raises his hand, then. “I believe my word will mean a little more to Jackson here, considering I have spent the most time with the omega. From the moment he stepped into the infirmary he has been nothing but civil. If he brings danger with him, I can’t say. But he certainly is not a danger. He is physically weak, malnourished, childish in his ways compared to omegas of our pack who are of similar age…”

“How old is he?” Namjoon interrupts.

Somehow, in all his talks with Jin and Hyuna, he never found it important to ask his age. Jin wonders why now is the right time, but upon seeing the appalled and crestfallen expressions his pack members wear when they hear, “23,” he understands. “Obviously, the man does not look 23. Whatever it is that goes on with omegas and his pack has stunted his growth, and his malnourishment works to make him appear even younger. I think he needs us, and I think—once he’s in proper health—he’ll become just as necessary a member as we are.”

“What was that you were saying about the danger he might bring, Healer?” Jackson asks nonchalantly, pretending to be preoccupied with his nails.

“Yoongi’s typically the asshole,” Hyuna snaps from her end of the circle. “What’s the matter with you today?”

Yoongi remains relaxed, for once not jumping on the opportunity to insult or argue with the Head Omega. Jackson purses his lips, runs his tongue over his teeth once, twice before finally proceeding with his observations.

“By now I’m sure you’ve all heard of my team’s encounter with…”

“I’ve overheard you telling the story about a dozen times, I’m sure we can all transcribe it from memory now,” Hyuna shoots him. “Observations only. Right?” She looks to Namjoon for backup.

He stares holes into the side of Jackson’s head. “Observations only.”

The Tactical Supervisor blanks at this. He exhales, tips of his ears turning an embarrassed shade of red, before he speaks again. “I don’t have any.”

It’s Taehyung who chortles with a, “Come again?”

“You haven’t spent any time with the omega, and yet you’re berating us for speaking on behalf of one of our members?” Jungkook comes in in support of his partner.

“Jungkook,” Namjoon says, tone suddenly pacifying. The conversation is finally heading in the direction he has intended it to, Jin can tell by the dimple that plays in his right cheek. “No need to point out the hypocrisy. I think we all can see it now. Thank you Jackson, for keeping our Heads informed.” The apology comes off as sincere, but Jin knows better than to believe his brother when he’s fighting back a smirk. “Does anyone have more to share?”

With Jackson and whatever words of manipulation he had used in his attempt to sway the vote now squandered, the other Heads speak up freely, the majority expressing sentiments of agreement with the omega, find him charming, adorable even.

“He’s like a child,” Yoongi says at one point, his monotone drawl confusing them all as to his stance. “It was cute, watching him walk around like a lost pup, amused with everything. Hwasa told me she found him standing over a toilet, flushing it over and over to watch how the water swirls.”

When the encompassing shock of Yoongi admitting to someone or something as cute dissipates, Namjoon is ready to call for a vote. “Do you want to do this anonymously, or publicly?” he asks the group.

“Publicly,” declares Hyuna loudly at the same time Jackson says, “Anonymously.”

Namjoon just sighs. “Really? Do we need to vote on how we’re going to vote, too?” He rolls his eyes at the lack of response. “Fine. All in favor of voting publicly, raise your hand.” They all do save for Jackson. “Great. All in favor of initiating the omega, Park Jimin, into the pack and ensuring his fair treatment as one of our members with the wellbeing of this pack in mind, and with the knowledge that your vote represents the voice of your born class, raise your hand.”

The numbers are overwhelming, six to one. Taehyung and Jungkook opt out, understandably so. 

Hyuna claps her hands together once, is on her feet before the decision is formally announced. “Wonderful! I’ll deliver the good news to Jimin now. Leader—” She makes to bow, catches herself at the last second, and waves a flighty goodbye instead as she heads for the door.

“It’s been decided then,” Namjoon finalizes the count, voice more authoritative now than it has been the entire meeting. “Park Jimin will be initiated into the pack, as per our rituals. He will continue to dorm with the Head Omega until further notice. Thank you all for your time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Jimin! will his fate ever be in his own hands?  
> the build up is quite slow (i'm notoriously known for that. i really need to write something that just jumps into shit, yknow? but until that day comes...) if you have been reading and enjoying the story so far, please let me know <33
> 
> i'm also gonna do my best to stick to a weekly schedule, that way i can pace myself but not leave yall waiting too long (or sometimes too short) of a time. SO, see you next Friday uwu


	5. Initiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Jimin to prove that he can be a useful member of the pack. How do things go for him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's officially 12 AM where I'm at, meaning it's FRIDAY! I was going to post this chapter in the afternoon, but I just couldn't wait to get it out there. Let me know your thoughts on the progression of the story in the comments. I write this without any beta readers, so please excuse whatever mess it may be uwu.   
>    
>  EDIT: here's a cool [moodboard](https://twitter.com/Moonfairy96/status/1350346401851584512?s=19) i created for this chapter. it's my first try at one, so please be nice uwu
> 
> Now, the warnings for this 12k beast:  cunnilingus, fisting (minor) (blink & you miss it), body image issues (minor), physical fight, blood (minor)

When Hyuna had come to him with the news that the Heads were allowing him to stay with the pack, Jimin almost cried with joy. When she told him about the initiation process and what it entails, he nearly passed out.

“Its purpose is simple,” she’d explained, confused with the look of disappointment on the younger omega’s face. “We test your ability to be able to provide for the pack. If you can’t do something as simple as catch prey, we can’t accept you.” This prey can be of any size, she went on to explain, to alleviate the nerves he is so bad at hiding. The problem is, despite coming from an uninhabited pack, Jimin had never hunted before.

There is a hierarchy he’s been relegated to since the day he was born. Alphas, true born leaders and the ultimate hybrid, hunt. Each alpha provides for his mate (or nowadays, mates) and offspring. Omegas, mated or not, tend to the hut. If mated, they’re only allowed outside their homes when their alpha is present. The chances of being attacked by other alphas are always high. If not mated, they are free to roam the forest until an alpha claims them.

Betas bear the brunt of the work. They are neither physically capable nor able to conceive, so they are the labor that keep the pack going. They plant, gather, and serve the Leader and his family until they present. If they present.

Jimin’s mate—he can’t believe he can only think of him as such—is one of the more aggressive alphas. He’s highly feared among the pack, highly respected, and when Jimin is a good omega, only a _really_ good omega, he would sometimes allow him to join his beta friends as they worked. Of course, Leeteuk never knew Jimin worked right alongside them.

It’s through this unfair advantage of freedom that Hoseok is ever able to stray from their territory to spy on others. And on the days Jimin keeps him company, he tells and tells never ending stories of all the wonders he’s seen outside the trees. It’s these stories which underscore the bleed of anxiety that increases his heartrate as he discusses the initiation with Hyuna. He has never wandered the forests alone until very recently, and he has never encountered a wild animal.

“I don’t know the first thing about hunting,” he frets, small fingers wrapping around Hyuna’s wrists, begging for her understanding.

She exhales, shoulders slumping. “The Leader and I have done what we can to give you a fair chance, Jimin. The rest is on you. Rest now. You have all of tomorrow and the day after to worry.”

“Tomorrow and the day after?” he breathes, gears in his mind running calculations too fast to keep track. “The initiation is in three days?”

“By week’s end, yes. “

“Isn’t that too soon?”

“Hunting is a skill expected from anyone who joins. There is no preparation time for it. I’m afraid asking for an extension will be pushing your luck.”

He doesn’t sleep that night, shakes underneath Hyuna’s furs despite it being high Summer. Images of the forest flash through his mind in the dark. He had been in the throes of a heat when he trekked to the Kim Pack, had barely registered his surroundings as the consuming fire within him burned from the inside out. The only motivation to keep moving had been his desperation to put as much distance as possible between him and his pack, his mate. Even he doesn’t know how he survived without food, licking the dew off wet leaves when thirsty. He doesn’t know what distant powers had kept an eye over him, ensuring an alpha did not catch whiff of his hot slick. To reenter the forest, this time in a conscious state of mind, purposely in search of danger—well, it might possibly be the end of him.

The next day Leader Namjoon gathers the entire pack in the cafeteria to announce the Heads’ decision to allow Jimin to become a member. The reactions are mostly positive, though Jimin did note a few judgmental looks of those who sized him up physically, doubt in their eyes. There is doubt in his heart as well.

At some point during his restless sleep he had made the decision to hang around the team of fighters today, if only to observe them in training. He hopes to learn a thing or two from them, hopes that watching them in action will spark a fighting spirit he never knew he had.

Alas, the opposite happens.

He watches Jackson lead the team through drills, and already despair is flooding him. They’re all so large, betas, omegas, and alphas alike. Their backs are wide, their legs scarily strong, arms thick with power. They mostly run at first, empty handed, then begin to do the same with weighted objects. By the time they finish the harrowing process, every one of them is dripping with sweat, pulsing veins obvious to him even from a distance. And when they really begin to fight, he has to force himself not to look away.

There’s something amazing about an omega or a beta overtaking an alpha. It’s a sight to behold, bodies of the inferior keeping up with their genetically superior counterparts. He hones in on one sparring couple, Chae-rin and Yugyeom, because he knows them. Yugyeom is taller, bigger, and yet the omega skirts his every strike stealthily. She ducks just at the right moments, jumps back when he aims for her face, and when he manages to skim her shoulder with his knuckles, she knees him in the groin, dropping him to the ground in a mess of painful groans and maybe even some tears. Jimin manages to giggle at this, a little too loudly, because Jackson looks up then, locking eyes with him.

Jimin, who watches from behind a tree a few feet away from the fighters, tries smiling again.

The alpha doesn’t reciprocate. Instead, Jackson signals him over with a wave of the hand, and the part of Jimin that does not know how to refuse an alpha shakily steps out from behind the girthy tree trunk to walk around the group of fighters, whose training doesn’t pause even when their Head is no longer paying them any attention.

Jackson’s stare isn’t welcoming. It’s stern, serious, commanding. Jimin, who feels his entire body flush under the glare, lowers his gaze to the ground as he makes his way over. Looking an alpha in the eye for too long can be interpreted as a challenge, or so he’s been taught. He definitely doesn’t want to challenge the Tactical Supervisor. He stops when he sees Jackson’s shoes two feet away from him, and even then he doesn’t look up.

“Your initiation’s after tomorrow,” he speaks, deep voice loud even with the rumble happening behind Jimin.

He definitely doesn’t need the reminder, but nods anyway.

“Watching us isn’t going to be of any help unless you actually participate. You might as well do something more meaningful with your time.”

Jimin waits to hear what that is, but Jackson doesn’t follow up with any suggestions. So instead, he tries to gain some insight as to what could possibly be awaiting him in the forest. “What kind of animals might I run into?”

“All kinds,” Jackson answers curtly. “It’s the wilderness. Everything big you can think of lurks beyond the Compound. But that shouldn’t be too difficult for you,” he adds.

Jimin looks up at this, a sliver of hope slithering through his anxiety at the reassurance.

“Seeing as you come from a feral pack, you’ve probably had to face animals as large as bears. Our territory’s creatures are no match to bears.”

His gut lurches, he feels sick. Jackson is not offering him hope, not in the slightest.

“Just because my old pack is _feral_ doesn’t mean I know how to fight beasts,” he says, and though he means for it to sound defensive, it doesn’t, not in the least.

Jackson scoffs at this. Jimin catches the way the alpha’s eyes roam up and down his smaller frame, expression a smirk. “No kidding. Tripping over a branch will crush you. Go on, pup. Seriously. Do something more worthwhile while you’re still here.” Just like that, he turns away to reobserve his fighters, leaving Jimin standing in his shadow.

A small part of Jimin wants to cry. He wants to escape into Hyuna’s room, under her furs, and lie in her bed until the day they drag him out of there. But another part of him, the wolf part, remains planted to this spot, watching with pure fury as Jackson disregards the value of his existence.

His hatred for alphas bubbles in his gut once again, the first time it does since he’s arrived at this place. He was just beginning to think that maybe they’re not all the same. That maybe he really was just born into the wrong pack, and it was only the Silmul’s whose alphas are callous and cold. 

But of course it’s not just the Silmul’s. No matter the hospitality of some, an alpha is still an alpha. Inconsiderate. Egotistical. Ruthless.

««««

“I’m here for my refill,” Hyuna announces self-importantly, striding into the infirmary like she’s the only person who matters. The Healer is busy tending to a beta whose hand is wrapped in a thick layer of paper towel.

Jin nods to a bed at the end of the room. “I’ll be right with you, Head Omega. Give me just a moment to sanitize this cut.”

She recognizes the patient as one of the cooks. The clutz probably cut herself, she thinks as she sits on the edge of the last bed, two away from Jin and the patient.

Jin unwraps the towels gently, as if bracing for the sight he’s about to unveil. His face is serious, concentrated, full lips in a pout as he lays eyes on a nearly severed finger.

The beta hiccups. “I-it’s b-bad, isn’t i-it?” she stutters, eyes closed to avoid staring at her own hand.

Though he looks concerned, he doesn’t let it sound in his voice. “It is, yes. But nothing we can’t take care of.”

Hyuna leans back in the bed, judging the beta for the way she can’t seem to get a handle on her emotions. Gosh, she hates criers. So many things to cry over, so many things she’s been through throughout her life, and this beta is sitting there crying over nearly losing a finger. The pack members really have gotten too comfortable with their risk-free way of life. It’s like they’ve forgotten all the shit they’ve gone through to get where they are. Suddenly a missing finger is a concern?

She looks the beta over, guesses her age. She’s a young one, probably in her late teens to early twenties. Pretty, with her tanned skin and thick lashes. Ugh, and the way Jin is handling her like a fragile little pup…she can’t stand the way he brushes over the beta’s bloody hand so gingerly.

“This is pretty gnarly,” Jin is saying as he cleans up around the wound to make a better assessment of the damage. “How’d it happen?”

Gods, is this story time? Hyuna just needs her suppressants, a bottle of pills and she can be on her way.

The beta sniffles, shoulder hunched up as if bracing for more pain than she’s already in.

 _Suck it up, sweetie. We’ve all had worse_.

“K-Kai and I were competing,” she breathes, sniffling again. “To see who can finish cutting up the carrots fastest. I was losing, s-so I…I sped up, and—”

And now the carrots they’ve worked so hard to grow are soiled with this pup’s blood because of a stupid kitchen competition.

Jin is too soft with her, so sweet Hyuna’s teeth ache as she continues to listen in on their conversation. “Well, I’ve got good news for you,” he says energetically. “Your finger can be saved. I’ll just need Hwasa’s assistance…”

Huh. She must nearly be losing the digit for Hwasa to be needed.

“But—but you’re here,” the girl whines. “And it hurts. Can’t you just—”

Is—is this child serious? Hyuna has to look to make sure, and yup! This beta really is lying in that hospital bed asking Jin to suck her finger healed.

And Jin has the nerve to laugh. “Trust me, you don’t want me taking care of this. Hwasa is better suited…” He looks up to send Hyuna a silent message to call for the Healer’s assistant. Only she’s no longer focused on the beta’s finger, but on the way his full lips move as he softly reassures the girl. “Hyuna,” he says calmly.

The Head Omega jumps, catching herself in the act. She feels warm all of a sudden, is even sweating a little under her arms.

Gosh! She must be nearing that time again.

“Do you mind finding Hwasa for me? I’m in need of her assistance.”

Funny thing is, he could just ask Hyuna to do the deed. Better yet, he can do it himself. Any presented hybrid’s saliva has healing properties that will be able to reduce damage that severe to nothing more than a faint scar. Then again, this is Jin, ever the gentleman. Of course he wouldn’t put the female beta in such a position as having an adult male alpha’s pouty lips sucking around her finger, licking her…

“I’m here. I can do it.” She feels her esophagus fill with bile the second the words slip her mouth.

“Please!” the beta whimpers, opening one eye to peek at Hyuna. “Please Head Omega! I’ll be indebted to you for…”

“Easy there,” Hyuna says, mentally cursing herself. She doesn’t want to lick this woman’s finger. She doesn’t want the taste of her blood on her tongue. Why, oh why—No! _What_ has possessed her in this moment? “It’s just a finger,” she sighs as she steps up next to the patient. “It’s not like your life depends on it.”

Jin straightens, holds the patient’s hand towards himself, making sure to keep pressure on it. “Head Omega,” he implores, knowing just the type of person Hyuna is. He has known her since they were pups, rumbled with her plenty of times to know she doesn’t do favors for just anyone. Not even him, not even Namjoon. “This is Hwasa’s job. She has consented to be our nurse. Now, please call for her before my patient loses any more blood.”

Hyuna doesn’t care for the patient. Like she said, it’s just a finger. The beta will be able to chop tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and whatever else her heart desires with four and a half fingers just fine. And somewhere in the recesses of her mind she acknowledges that if Jin wasn’t here, she wouldn’t be offering her help. That fact alone nauseates her, because this has to be her wolf reacting. There’s no way—

“By the time I call for Hwasa that finger will be lost. I’m here. I’m a Head. It’s my job, too, to look after our members.”

Jin so badly wants to call out her fib, she can tell from the way his eye twitches to keep from rolling in exasperation. But for the sake of the patient, he doesn’t.

“Fine.” He holds the beta’s hand out closer to her so she has access to it.

Hyuna feels uneasy as she tucks one leg under her and settles in next to the beta. It’s not that she hasn’t done this before; she’s done it plenty of times for plenty of her old pack members. But that was back before the war. Before she was Head Omega, right hand woman to the Leader. Before she shaped her image into the ice queen that stands before the Kim Pack today.

Her heat is coming soon, that has to be the reason why her wolf is putting on such a show. It senses an alpha in the room and wants to impress, wants to show off the nurturing side of the bitch that is Hyuna. And boy, is she her wolf’s bitch right now.

Jin senses her hesitation when she takes the beta’s badly mangled hand in her own but doesn’t make to draw it any closer. She feels his shadow retreat towards the door, hears him mumble something about Hwasa, and the next thing she knows she’s sucking on the bloody finger that’s split at the knuckle, to the bone.

The taste is thick and metallic as blood mixed with saliva coats her tongue and the roof of her mouth. She runs the flat of her tongue over the exposed bone, ensuring to fill all its pores so it reattaches properly. The effect is not instantaneous, but the longer she continues with her ministrations—lapping over every surface to ensure maximum healing, making a point not make eye contact—she can feel at least the flesh reforming. Bone is more difficult, will need more time.

Something clatters and she shifts her focus to Jin, who has ripped a cabinet open and is struggling with his signature gas mask, trying to get it over his head as quickly as he can.

 _Shit_! He should’ve just given her the suppressants when she asked for them.

His eyes are nervous when he casts a reluctant glance her way, mask at his forehead just as he’s pulling it down. Then, he freezes, pupils dilating.

Hyuna’s tongue stops, matching his off guard reaction, and she just knows her irises reflect the red glint that passes through his.

The beta shifts uncomfortably next to her, managing to bring her back to her senses. Casting her wolf aside—a difficult feat considering how much more powerful the wild part of a hybrid gets when their mating instincts are heightened—she pierces her eyes shut, speeds up the movement of her tongue to get this over with.

She’s in trouble.

 _Not Seokjin_ , she begs her inner wolf. _Not Seokjin, please. Anyone else. Anyone but Jin_.

She doesn’t allow her mind’s eye to picture him naked, even as a blurry rendering passes through. She doesn’t allow herself to imagine that these are his fingers in her mouth, instead focusing on how she’d always made fun of their funny appearance as a pup. And she definitely does not dwell on the oh so true fact that the boy has grown up to become such a fine looking alpha.

Yet just the knowledge that she needs to focus so desperately on not thinking about Jin makes her lose herself that much more. Against her better judgement, her eyes slowly open again only to find that he has his back turned, mask finally in place.

“D-done,” she coughs a minute later, feeling the warm blush that makes its way across her chest and up her neck.

Jin turns his attention back to the beta, splint in hand, and makes it a point not to acknowledge Hyuna. His crooked fingers hold the beta’s gingerly as he slips the splint on, tightens it just as much as he deems necessary. “There’ll be a nasty scar by the middle of next week, but your finger will still be there,” he promises her, no longer sounding calm. Instead, there’s an urgency to his voice, like he can’t wait to get the beta out of the room.

Hyuna hates the way her stomach flutters at the possibilities of being alone in here with him. In his home. On a hospital bed. The potential for kinks is endless in here. She isn’t typically coherent during heats, doesn’t have time to think about what feels good, only what quenches the fire inside. She wonders if this really is her wolf’s desire or her own, deeply afraid of the latter.

Jin is thorough even when he’s flustered, takes the time to rush through directions on how the beta needs to keep the finger from getting infected. He even hurriedly puts together a concoction of balms she can use to minimize the scarring as much as possible, and by the time she is finally ushered out the infirmary door Hyuna is curled in on herself on the farthest cot, blanket pulled up and over her head. As if a blanket could stifle the coming on of a heat.

“Hyuna,” Jin’s muffled voice sounds, and she almost whines with want at the way her name drips from her childhood friend’s mouth. Somehow it sounds nicer, prettier, meaningful when he says it, and she wonders if it had always been said that way, or if it’s her condition that suddenly makes the alpha seem so, _so_ deliciously attractive. “Hyuna, you need to take this and get to a mating room.”

She feels a hand touch her shoulder, sees his outline hover over her through the blanket. And despite what her body is telling her she wants, she has the sense of mind to shrink away from the touch. Because she doesn’t want a Kim. Not for a heat, not for a partner, not for a mate. She doesn’t think she can handle the passion with which they care for omegas, prefers her alphas to be rougher around the edges.

But none of that matters in this type of situation, does it? She can’t even smell him and yet her she is, hiding under a blanket like it renders her invisible, shaking. For him.

He thrusts his hand underneath the blanket, palm open so she can retrieve the suppressant he’s offering. Like an animal, she vacuums it right into her mouth, swallowing it down dry, and waits for her body to settle down so she can get the hell out of there. This will be her first heat without an alpha reserved in advance.

««««

Jimin doesn’t hide out in Hyuna’s room, anger and anxiousness too overwhelming to cower in fear. Instead, he enters one of the main floor bathrooms, ensuring the place is empty before stripping to stand in front of one of the mirrors. He’s not in search of the beauty Hwasa had fooled him was there. He’s in search of some confidence to hold on to.

Mirrors intrigued him when he saw his reflection for the first time. He didn’t see anything striking within is features, but Hwasa had insisted that there was something there. Something in his face. He figured he’d be able to acknowledge it as more time passed, as he “grew into himself”, something Jin once said offhandedly. It’s nearing two weeks since his arrival, and he still can’t get past the dark circles around his sunken eyes, the sparsity of his ear-length hair, the small marks that dot his body here and there, evidence of his life of before. Forget beauty, whatever that is anyway. He simply doesn’t look like the members he desires to be accepted by.

Though angry, his expression looks more sad. Though his body vibrates with negative emotion, he remains looking small and weak and so unlike even the most idle of the Kim Pack. And they expect him to hunt? And he expects to survive amongst them when all he knows are the walls of his hut and the area of his village?

He gets it. He’s too frail. Too weak. Too inexperienced. Too much of an outsider to fit in here.

A draft sends goosebumps crawling across his naked skin, and in the mirror he’s met with a pair of wide, amber glowing eyes.

Namjoon is looking right back.

Jimin nearly trips over himself as he gathers the oversized outfit pooled around him, heart dropping from his chest as he half crawls into the nearest stalls.

Oh gods! Oh heavens, oh stars, oh—oh no!

He hates himself for how quickly tears spring into his eyes as he hurriedly pulls the beige colored outfit on. He sinks to the tiled floors, pulling his knees up to his chest, and wills the Leader to leave. It takes everything in him not to sob, to swallow back the incessant fear that has been trailing him since the night before.

He’ll fight this time. He will fight, he will do whatever it takes to keep another alpha from claiming him, Leader or not. But he can’t fight, so he pleads and prays to every spirit he knows of that Kim Namjoon walks out of there without coming near him.

The door to the bathroom closes sooner than he expects. He doesn’t believe it, though. An alpha had just seen him bare, exposed. He might as well have been inviting him to attack, standing so brazenly in the middle of a spacious room.

Still shaking, he brings himself onto his knees. There is a gap underneath the door, one he peeks through hesitantly to confirm that he’s alone. And sure enough, he is.

It’s like these hybrids are a different species, not that he has the sense to complain. Just how many times can he be spared?

Still, it hadn’t been just any alpha to catch him nude. It was the Leader.

He groans loudly, cheek pressed to the cold tile in despair. Why, oh why, is his luck so rotten?

Holding onto the lock on the door, he forces himself to his feet, using the side of the stall for support. Hyuna’s bed seems more inviting than ever as he rethinks hiding up there, having had enough humiliation for one day.

Yes. Yes, that’s the best course of action at this point. He just needs to avoid everyone. Avoid them for long enough until he figures out what to do, where to go. He can—he can walk away again, sneak some food from the kitchens so the journey won’t be like before. He’s not in heat this time, so his stumbling will be more rational, his route more thought out. Not that he knows where any road will lead him, but anywhere. Anywhere is better than here and his old home. Anywhere…

“Park Jimin.”

He has barely peeked his head out the bathroom door before the deep voice pins him to the spot. It chills him to the core, speeds his already sprinting heartrate up.

Namjoon steps into his line of vision, bulging arms crossed over his swollen chest. The Leader doesn’t look too happy.

“I will meet you in the infirmary,” is all the large man says before marching away, and Jimin—curse his omega’s conditioning to submit—trails behind like a pup who’s done wrong.

Much to his dismay, neither Seokjin—an alpha he’s not too opposed to being in the presence of—nor Hwasa are there when he enters the white lit room. He pauses just before the door as it swings to a suctioning close behind him, and all outside noise is drowned out, unfortunately grounding him in this extremely troubling moment. To his slight surprise, Namjoon doesn’t settle in the rolling chair Seokjin often occupies, heads towards the farthest bed in the room instead. Jimin remains in his place.

The Leader’s lips form a thin line before he finally speaks. “I don’t think I need to inform you of the dangers of what you were doing in there,” he begins, tone steady.

Eyes to the ground, Jimin shakes his head.

“You may have seen this pack’s member’s display some great self-control, but we don’t give others the temptation to slip. That’s the purpose of the suppressants Hyuna gave you. I trust you took them?”

Jimin nods.

He feels conflicted. Should he be scared? Embarrassed? Emotional? All these mingle inside him, not one truly taking hold. Surprisingly, the one thing he is sure he doesn’t feel is the presence of a threat. Maybe it’s the light tone with which Namjoon speaks that appeases his anxiousness, however slightly. Regardless, he keeps his eyes low.

Namjoon lets out a heavy sigh. “Jimin, what were you doing in that bathroom?”

To anyone else, he can admit his fears. But to the very man who holds Jimin’s fate in his hands? He could never. So, he doesn’t answer. And something tells him Namjoon will not make him.

“This initiation,” Namjoon brings up then, perceptive to Jimin’s discomfort. “Don’t let it make you nervous. It’s nothing really. We don’t have much large game left in this forest, so no one’s expecting a mammoth or anything like it.”

Jimin’s head snaps up, cracking unpleasantly with the whiplash. “What?”

Namjoon tilts his head to the side. “A rabbit will do. A squirrel. A bird. Unfortunately, fish don’t count, despite there being an abundance of them in the river, but that’s just tradition.”

Yeah, yeah, Jimin already knows that. He’s more concerned with the part that went more like, “There aren’t large animals in the forest?” That would explain…a lot. Namely, why no one seemed concerned for his safety, which they don’t have an obligation to in the first place. It also explains how he didn’t run into anything threatening when he first arrived.

Namjoon shakes his head in confirmation of this statement. “That’s why our cafeteria protein has been rabbit for the past…I don’t know, nine months? The deer need to repopulate. We’ve done a number on them.”

“He lied to me,” Jimin realizes aloud, too astounded to keep his thoughts to himself. “Why would he lie to me?”

He’s met with a cocked eyebrow from Namjoon, a suspicious lilt of the head. “Who lied to you?”

Why is Jimin even surprised?

“No one important,” he mumbles. “Thank you, Alpha Leader,” he says instead, straightening his back, cutting their conversation short. He’s not sure how relieved he is to hear there’s nothing dangerous in the forest, but no matter his efforts, it’s clear that he will have to walk into the initiation blindly.

The process officially begins the next day, right after lunch. Jimin receives a few well wishes from passersby coming to and from the buffet, pats on the shoulder that are supposed to be comforting but only remind him of how small he truly is. _If I survive this_ , he thinks. _If I survive this, I can’t allow to be looked at this way again_. It may have been the norm with his other pack—omegas are expected to look and act submissive in every human and animal way. But it’s become clear that that is not the case here. And for the second time in his life he is all too aware of his sheer lack of power.

It’s his first time eating in the cafeteria, having been stuck in the infirmary and Hyuna’s room for the majority of his time with the Kim Pack. He had hoped to see the Head Omega this morning after realizing she hadn’t come home last night. He didn’t know who to ask about her whereabouts, looking to seek comfort from her presence, maybe ask to be scented to calm his nerves. So he had ended up here, sitting at the furthermost table, stomach in knots as he stares at his decently filled plate, unable to bring himself to put anything in his mouth.

“This is my spot,” a drawling, monotone voice sounds above him.

He looks up to find an alpha—dark eyes, dark black hair, pale white skin—looking down at him from across the table, unsmiling. The alpha swings one leg over the seat. Jimin quickly scoops up his tray.

“I-I’m sorry, I’ll go…”

“No,” the alpha says in the same tone, seating himself, officially joining Jimin. “Stay.”

The command is harsh, exactly the type he has been waiting to encounter from an alpha. And despite it not being imposing, his wolf can’t help but shrink in even more on itself, drawing his arms and hands into his lap, shoulders slouched.

“Eat something,” the alpha tells him. “You don’t know how long you’re going to be out there before you run into something worth it. Eat.”

Jimin picks up his spoon—a utensil he learned how to use relatively quickly—and begins rolling cold green beans around in his rice.

“Nervous, huh?”

Jimin nods to his plate.

“Would you care for some advice?”

He shakes his head. An alpha’s so called advice was not of much help yesterday. He isn’t interested in hearing what demeaning words this one has in store for him.

“I’m going to give you some anyway,” the man says in his cold voice, still harsh but not overpowering. “Take it, leave it. I don’t care. But I’m sick of you slinking around this place like a lost pup.”

From his peripheral, Jimin sees him scoop up a spoonful of food, shove it in his mouth. There are a few seconds of tense silence between them, during which the cafeteria moves in slow motion around them. Jimin feels as if this entire day will pass this way, just because he cannot wait for it to end.

Finally, the alpha speaks again. “Whatever the people around here might have told you, forget it. Even if Namjoon offered you advice, ignore it.”

This makes Jimin look up to meet the alpha’s eyes for the first time since he joined him. His first thought after getting a good look is that for a canine, he sure has feline like eyes.

“I don’t care how scary or safe anyone made hunting out to be, but here’s the truth of the matter: you’re a hybrid. Past your overthinking human brain, you’ve got a brain that will go ballistic and fight to the death. Instinct and the will to survive, that’s what matters. 

Forget class. Omega or alpha, there’s no difference between the two. Alphas have just been conditioned to act more on their wolf side, omegas not so much. So forget what the fuck kinda’ organs you’ve got when you get out there, and just remember this much: you’re a fucking hybrid.” 

So, Jimin takes that solid sounding advice and runs with it. Not literally; he needs to wait for the entire pack to convene outside and send him off before actually running. But that alpha’s words stick with him, trigger something meaningful that he doesn’t truly latch onto in his anxious state. Yet he knows the words are significant, and so he repeats them over and over as he’s lead outside by him—Min Yoongi, Head Alpha he learns soon after.

_I’m a fucking hybrid. I’m a fucking hybrid. Forget omegas, you’re a fucking hybrid._

Here he stands, five green beans digesting in his stomach, maybe even a grain of rice that accidently latched onto his spoon earlier. The pack stands in a semicircle around him, though he’s long forgotten them as he screams deafeningly loud…in his head. He has half a mind to turn around and find Jackson in the crowd, pin him with a confidently hard look before taking off, but then remembers who the fuck he is and decides now would not be a good time to lose control of his bladder.

“Ready?” Namjoon asks from his left after giving some rousing speech to the cheering members at the back.

Jimin is shaking so hard, he can’t tell if he nods or shakes his head. But a second later, Namjoon signals something and the shouting behind them grows even louder, more excited, and Jimin sprints towards the trees, tears blurring his vision. He shifts just before breaching the edge of the forest, vision clearing straight away.

He runs and runs with no strategy in mind, no preferred animal to search for, nothing. Pretty soon, after the cheering from the Compound has faded to the background, and after he’s in the thick of the forest, he realizes that he doesn’t even know where the perimeter of this territory ends, and that slows him down considerably. His sprint turns into a slow gallop that soon becomes a full stop. In the end, he folds his hind legs underneath him, front ones out, and does the one thing his wolf does best.

He whines.

««««

“Alpha! Alpha, _please_!”

It takes everything within Jin not to give in to the willing omega before him, but he has somehow managed it for a whole night. If he can get through one, he can get through the rest. His discomfort, his want, can wait.

Hyuna writhes in this makeshift nest he has prepared for her, a mess of random blankets he had the sense of mind to grab on their way out the infirmary. How he managed to get her out of the building without triggering anyone’s senses, he doesn’t even know. All he knows is the stars were on their side then.

Not so much on his now.

The humane part of him reminds him how wrong it is for him to be here. He has spent nearly his entire life living amongst humans, who do not take well to a man and a woman being in such a position, out in the open, openly staring at each other naked and lustful as the two of them do now. But for the better part of 5 years, he has needed to remind himself that he no longer is ‘human’, that this is the way his kind live.

It doesn’t make him feel at all better about being here.

Hyuna has her back against a tree, long legs spread as wide as they go, desperately rubbing her clit. Her head is thrown back, body sweaty, grass caught to her moist skin here and there. Jin is on his stomach, tongue in her vagina, doing the one thing he can that does not risk breeding her.

“Nuh-not enough,” she cries, holding Jin’s head in place with her free hand. “Fuck, I might as well be alone!”

Jin knows that omegas—just as alphas—lose most sense of their rationality when going through heats or ruts. Hyuna somehow holds onto most of hers despite her situation.

“Didn’t have time to grab a dildo,” Jin reminds her, mouthing against her opening, tongue raw from having been at this since—his eyes dart distractedly to the sky. The sun is beginning to set, marking the end of their second day. Gosh, it’s been hours in this position.

Hyuna grinds against his mouth, fast and rough, not taking into consideration the pain she’s causing his nose every time her bone comes in contact with the sensitive cartilage.

“Fingers,” she demands, heaving herself onto all fours, presenting herself to him.

He stares at her openings, asshole tight and puckered, labia red from wear. He palms his everlasting erection subconsciously, closes his eyes to try and latch onto a breath of air that doesn’t carry her scent.

There is none.

Her back rises and falls dramatically, spine appearing and disappearing underneath her skin with the effort. She’s so wet, drenched in her slick and sweat, and his spit. Her body glows in the sunset, every flat and curve inviting, cherry scent heady. He’s going to smell of her for days, if not weeks.

“Ahh!” she cries, falling onto her weakened arms. “Y-you’re the worst. Wuh-worst fuh-fucking alpha _ever_!”

Jin knows he shouldn’t take offense to that. In fact, if he were in his right mind, he probably wouldn’t. But rut or not, his senses are atypically heightened, Hyuna’s leaking slick to blame, and the wolf inside him rears its usually dormant head.

He shuffles closer to her on his knees, runs his fingers over her impossibly dripping vagina. “Please!” she whines, still sobbing into her arm.

His left hand comes up to smooth over her bent back, a lame attempt at comfort.

“Do something. I’ve never—never felt so empty. Alpha!” she pleads again, turning her head to look at him from around her hunched body. “Jin. Kim Seokjin. Hate me later. I know I’ll hate you later. But take care of me. _Please_.”

He doesn’t hate her. He never has, despite her consistently hostile treatment of him and his brother over the years. But the amount he does like her is not enough to get him to do what she is asking of him, human and wolf desires aside. He didn’t grow up the way they have; sex means something where he comes from. It’s not so easy to cast away everything you’ve ever known and believed in, no matter your nature.

Instead, Jin gathers all five of his fingers, wets them against the slick trailing down her shaking thighs, and plunges his hand into her vagina, fucking into her without abandon until she gets her first release since all this began.

««««

The sun sets on Jimin’s first day on the hunt. He hasn’t come upon any animals, though their skitters sound every now and then in the darkened forest. He knows he isn’t trying hard enough, is not making much of an effort.

He doesn’t shift back into his human form regardless. Being alone for the first time without Hoseok to lead the way has him jumping at every small and large noise. The culprits are usually squirrels or birds, neither animal one in which he has an interest in pursuing. He can only imagine the reactions he’ll get showing up with something that small, so measly. What a meal.

After hours of aimless walking, he figures it’s safe enough to take a short rest. All he’s looking for is a nap, one that will hopefully energize him to hunt with purpose.

He shifts beneath a large tree, its girth twice his size. He puts together a rough bed of fallen leaves, has to pick some off low hanging branches for proper cushioning, and curls his knees up to his chest. The summer night is warm enough to cloud him in a comfortable haze of humidity, one that immediately begins to lull him to sleep. Adrenaline no longer pumping through his system, the forest proven itself to be tame, he welcomes the sudden heaviness of his eyelids. Sleeping is his coping mechanism after all; he had even willed himself to fall asleep while being mated.

Complete unconsciousness doesn’t overtake him for a few minutes, moments during which he remains wary of his surroundings, but manages to dream at the same time.

The haunting face of his alpha—dammit, when will he stop referring to him that way?—floats past his closed eyelids, a reminder of what awaits him if he is to return to his pack. He hasn’t seen a single happy day since getting mated, having been omega number three of four. No, he wasn’t a victim of the breeding initiative. He was a victim of the Silmul’s culture, one that existed well before the war, before their population began decreasing. They just have reason to justify the alphas ways now, reason to continue stripping omegas of their already futile identities.

His mind drifts to Hoseok again, his beta friend. The man is 26 years old, well past the age of presenting, but members of the Silmul are stunted. They don’t present until later in life, one of the many reasons Jimin is unlucky for having presented in his middle years. He had been pursued ever since, avoiding every alpha’s advance, until…

Until the pack leader’s son showed interest in him. He had had no choice but to walk right into his hut, lay in his bed, and accept his fate.

A branch cracks, too loud for a small animal to be the cause, and Jimin shoots up into a sitting position. His eyes are wide, focusing too hard in the pitch black. He holds his breath, remains still to keep from making any noise. His heart beats loudly in his ears, drowning out the sound of any approaching animals. To shift now is to call for attention.

There’s a soft brushing noise, one that comes from behind him. He presses himself to the tree trunk, sniffs the air for any indication of what—or who—might be there. His senses catch something faint, close but distant. It’s the unmistakable scent of an alpha, one suppressed.

The Kim Pack is the only one he knows of so far to use suppressants, but that somehow does not quell the fear reignited within him.

A twist in the atmosphere, and Jackson Wang rounds the tree in his human form, lean body bare, a smirk on his lips. “You think hiding out under a tree is going to keep you safe?”

Jimin exhales in relief, but his muscles remain tense. “You’re taking time out of your night to harass me?” he questions, still on high alert.

Nothing about Jackson’s demeanor suggests he’s here to harm Jimin, but that doesn’t mean anything to the omega. After all, this is the same person who tried to run him out of the pack just yesterday.

“I’m not here to harass you,” Jackson counters, walking in a slow circle in front of Jimin, hands tucked under his arms. “I just thought you should know something before you do anything stupid.”

Anything stupid? Like hunting an animal to be accepted into a pack that will ensure Jimin’s safety?

“I ran into your alpha.”

Jimin’s blood runs cold. “What?”

“When the fighters and I went out on human territory.” Jackson looks up at him then. “He’s looking for you. Struck me as an idiot, seeing he can’t simply follow the scent of his mate to find him.” His eyes narrow then. “But he’ll find you, it’s only a matter of time. And you’re going to lead him straight to my people.”

My people? He doesn’t even lead the pack…

“If you manage to find yourself something in these woods, Jimin, just keep one thing in mind; anything happens to any of our members, I won’t settle for simply running you out of the pack.”

That’s all he had to say. He had waited until dusk to seek Jimin out just to deliver this wonderful news, and now he is walking away like it has no effect on the omega.

Jimin’s hands ball into fists. “I thought your pack cares for omegas,” he shouts after the alpha’s retreating form. “You even have some on your team. What’s one more going to do, throw your class ratio out of proportion?”

Jackson stills. He throws his head back, inhales deeply before facing Jimin again. “We don’t care for ratios, Park. You have no idea how many people we’ve lost since the war, how many we’ve lost to packs like yours. Back then they kidnapped our omegas and pups without reason, but accepting you is an open invitation. You’re _mated_.”

“Kidnapped your—what?”

“You’re old enough to have been around during those times, don’t play dumb with me,” Jackson grits, jaw grinding. “Your kind are the reason so many of us lost our homes, our friends, our families. Namjoon’s kindness may affect the pack’s perception of you, but I’m more aware than that.”

“ _We_ did nothing to your people,” Jimin spits back, shaking on the spot. If it was a deniable fact before, it isn’t now, which side of the war the Kim Pack was on. “ _You_ guys pillaged our territories and took what doesn’t belong to you ‘for the greater good’. Look where the greater good’s gotten me. This is your fault.”

Jackson chuckles. “I don’t know what tales they feed you guys over there, but know one thing.” He closes the short distance between them, chin up, eyes down on Jimin’s furious frame. “What we did, we did for omegas like you. Your kind put up their walls, disagreed with the fight for equality, and rewrote the constitution of hybrid existence. We can’t help you now.”

Fear. Fear and confusion and loss unlike anything he has felt before boil and blend within him, rocking him to the core. He should know better than to believe an alpha as dirty as Jackson, is a quick learner when it comes to who he can and cannot trust. But Jimin has been through things—his pack has put him through things—that he cannot help but consider the alpha’s words, if only for a brief minute.

The conflict within him rises and overflows too rapidly for Jimin to get ahold of himself. Before he can rethink his actions, before his rationality can stop him, Jimin is pouncing, shifting in midair. His wolf tunnel visions on Jackson’s retreating human form. With every ounce of power he can muster—which is considerably more than a human’s, despite his frailness—he flexes and aims for the alpha’s back.

A split second later his own body is flying backwards through the thick congregation of trees, whimpering in shock and panic, before slamming into the trunk of a tree some half a mile away from where he once stood. Pain shoots through his spine, thorns through his skeleton, momentarily blinding him. He makes a pathetic noise, one that sounds like a cat coughing up a furball, as he attempts to regain his breath.

There’s a huff, and hot air blows over his snout, minty and scarily close.

He opens his eyes, forces his vision to focus on the dark grey colored wolf standing over him, eyes a chilling red as they pin him to the tree. He whimpers again, a reaction that’s out of his hands, his wolf reacting to a threatening alpha.

Jackson huffs again, backs away slowly, challengingly. He crouches low, back raised, readying for a second attack. Jimin considers shifting back, whines lowly at the stupid decision he’s made. But if anything is going to get him rejected from the pack, he would rather it be this than his failed attempt at catching a prey. So, disregarding the obvious ache in his back, mentally prepared to be ripped to shreds, he rises shakily onto his legs again.

He’s already limping as he and Jackson begin to circle one another, both in position to attack. The human part of his brain screams for him to give this up, to act as an omega should. But as long as Jackson is intent on disparaging him, he’s intent on finally giving another righteous alpha a piece of his mind. Jimin may not have training. He might not have experience in hunting, or fighting, or even arguing for that matter. But he’s a wolf just like any other.

Yoongi’s words come back to him, though he knows the older alpha had not meant them for this type of situation. He’s got his _instincts_ , his _will to survive_ , and a bitterness towards alphas that would make anyone’s entire body shrivel.

Whatever remains conscious of his humanity, he casts it aside, allows himself to get swallowed by every savage instinct he possesses. And when Jackson bares his teeth in another challenging gesture, Jimin is on him and clawing at the larger wolf’s furs like his life depends on it.

They slam against each other, barking incessant. It’s the sound of two boulders colliding, nearly shaking the ground beneath their feet.

Jimin no longer exists. He is fangs and claws, emotions giving way to his wolf, and his wolf is not aware of why it needs to fight; it just knows that it does.

There’s hesitation on Jackson’s part, Jimin can feel it. When he knocks the alpha onto his back, the grey wolf simply lies there, red eyes wide, surprised. Yes. Yes, even he could not see such a reaction coming from little, weak, frail Jimin. He doesn’t let the shock immobilize him for long, though.

Jackson, who is experienced enough in these matters to hold onto some semblance of his rationality while shifted, is pissed at the danger the other Heads are willingly accepting, and Jimin—well, Jimin is an animal with something to prove. And the latter is a deadly combination that has the omega sinking his claws into flesh, sense of remorse forgotten, snapping his teeth dangerously at the haughty alpha who has managed to piss him off on the wrong day, at the wrong time.

There’s a loud howl, one that sends resting birds fluttering hurriedly out their nests, and it comes from Jimin. The Tactical Supervisor has managed to sink his front claws right into his chest, gripping and unyielding. Jimin falls to his side, breath stuttering as his body registers the pain. Jackson doesn’t let up. His snout is close to Jimin’s, nearly touching, sharing each other’s breaths. Jimin didn’t know that wolves could cry until this moment, never having spent much time as one (omegas never had reason to shift. It was looked down upon to do so).

He whimpers beneath the firm and brawny wolf over him, ready to acknowledge defeat so soon. He pleads with his eyes, whimpers desperately to be released.

Jackson huffs one last time before peeling away from the omega, drawing his claws out nice and slow in one last effort to maim. Jimin howls again, rolls his large body over to catch his breath.

The alpha is back to human form. He swallows loudly, struggling to breathe himself. Despite that, he jumps to his feet on nimble legs, this little spat meaningless compared to true battles he has lead.

What Jimin does is petty. It’s childish, one last ditch effort to prove himself. A hybrid, shifted or not, should not attack again after admitting defeat, but that doesn’t stop Jimin from swiping one last time at Jackson. The alpha shouts, more in anger than in pain, and Jimin bolts into the night, running faster than he knows his body can currently handle, adrenaline blurring every tree, rock, and creature.

The sun rises, and with it chirping birds, a warm breeze, and a serenity that stands in heavy contrast to the pitiful condition Jimin is in.

All through the night, he didn’t shift back. He didn’t risk sleeping either, anticipating another attack. Thought it has been hours and the forest is back to its usual quiet, Jimin doesn’t take the risk. He’s exhausted, hungry, thirsty. He’s in pain, chest bleeding into his furs. His back aches, forcing him to limp. And just as before, he lacks a plan. 

_I’m screwed_ , he think blearily. _Empty handed or not, I’m done_.

He shouldn’t have attacked the alpha first. He should have maintained control of his emotions, kept to himself, focused solely on the outcome of a successful initiation rather than on the repercussions of a failed one. Now, despite the result of this hunt, he will always be the unwelcome omega who attacked one of their own.

He senses it in the air before the smell hits him, causing his fur to stand on end. It’s the unmistakable scent of an omega in heat, one who is suffering. Instinct tells him to back away, to turn around get as far from the source as possible, and he does just that. He has had enough trouble for one day, doesn’t want to be mistaken for a rival and provoke another attack. So he doubles back in the direction he came from, the direction of the Compound, resolve beaten. He’s roamed the entirety of this section of the forest to no avail, and now a corner of it is out of bounds.

Head hung low, he begins to trek back to the pack. This ending was inevitable. He doubts anyone will be surprised by his failure, thinks maybe this what everyone suspected would happen anyway. They’re just not as straightforward as Jackson is.

His paws drag beneath him, leaving clear markings in the morning-wet soil of the forest. This walk of shame prompts him to consider the possibilities of what awaits him should he give his efforts up entirely, if he were to head back where he came from. To his old pack. Flitting scenario’s come to mind, none of which involve a warm welcome.

There are strict punishments for defectors. The Leader’s favorite involves a public breeding in the main circle, ruthlessly carried out by him. The last omega who had suffered that fate couldn’t walk for months after. Another possibility is that he is banned from his hut, forced to scavenge and sleep on the village pathways, a visual reminder for everyone else not to repeat his mistake. But those are just the Leader’s ways. Jimin’s alpha—the Leader’s son—would have much more in store for him, consequences too grave to think about now.

Despite himself, he wonders if Jackson’s words the night before were true. Is Leeteuk really out there searching for him? Jimin knows how much the alpha hates humans. He also knows Leeteuk isn’t not so fond of him either, so his quest for Jimin must mean he’s angry. Really angry.

Jimin’s shoulder absently throbs with the memory of the last time his alpha had been upset with him. This time might not result in torn muscle or broken bones; his latest dissent calls for death.

He can’t go back to the Silmul’s, there is no way he will even consider it. But he can pass by, if only for Hoseok. If he can catch his beta friend as he forages, they can be on the run together. This struggle, this loneliness, this newfound self-consciousness, will be easier to navigate with a friend by his side…

But even that is too much of a risk. Hoseok would happily join him, but then two lower classmen will be on the run, and the entire pack will be on the search, not just Jimin’s alpha.

A far off rushing noise pulls him from his depressing ruminations, calls at him from the east. Jimin slows down, his ears perking up to focus.

Water.

Water, water! Oh, how he needs water right now!

He begins to jog, hind legs throbbing with every stretch of his muscles. The hit he had taken against that tree was by no means an easy one. He will be feeling its effects for days.

Wherever the water is, it is much farther out than he anticipated, and after nearly two miles of running he finally spots a river in the near distance. He runs towards the stream, thin tongue out and blowing in the wind as his entire body shivers with anticipation.

He jumps right into the green tinted waters, pads around happily as its coolness assuages the sting in his chest, laps at the droplets that spray around him. At the very start of the river he spots a waterfall, and oh this could not be a more perfect place to rest!

Jimin pools water with his tongue into his mouth, savoring the feel as the liquid hits the back of his throat and travels down into his empty stomach. He regrets not taking advantage of his last meal at the Compound. There is no telling when he will be able to eat to his hearts content again.

Furs dripping, body reenergized, he takes in his surroundings to confirm that no one is around and risks shifting back into his human form, if only for a moment.

These few minutes of refreshing freedom are short lived, however. He is submerged in the river, hungrily eyeing the medium sized fish that don’t dare come close to him, when he catches a disturbance in the water. It comes from the bank across the way, just a few feet from where he’s doggy paddling.

Though his lungs need air soon, he bears the stinging in his chest, goes completely still. Time is measured by the rapid beats of his heart as he runs out of oxygen, and just when he’s about to give in to the need for air, a head dips into the water just where he’d caught it a second ago.

It’s less of a head and more of a snout, long tongue swiftly poking in and out of the river as the animal drinks. It’s a deer, and Jimin recognizes the opportunity despite his previously pessimistic state of mind.

He makes a few things clear to himself: 1) he has spent days in this forest, not counting the last two. He should have seen Jackson’s empty threats for what they are before he allowed them to get to him. 2) This is the only large game he’s come across. If he doesn’t do something about it now, then he really might as well head back to the Compound, tail between his legs. 3) He really doesn’t want to show up defeated, and he really doesn’t want to go anywhere near his old pack again.

His oxygen deprived body begins to panic, but Jimin holds out on resurfacing. Just a few more seconds and he will find relief, but right now he needs to get that deer. He waits until its head is no longer in the water before shifting, figuring it’s safer to do so with as little disturbance to the animal as possible. Eyes still trained on that spot, he moves in small steps across the shallow river, doing the best he can to minimize the ripples that echo off his wolf. He stills when a second head pops into the river.

There are two deer now, two unassuming prey. It literally is now or never.

He continues across the river, doing his best to ignore the screaming that starts up in his brain that tells him to breathe. He’s almost there, mere feet away from the deer, he just needs…

Both animals retract their heads, and Jimin panics. He can’t let them get away, not when they’re his only hope.

He kicks his hind legs off the muddy floor of the river, shooting out of the water like an arrow. His body is light enough and small enough to break the surface, but too heavy to move far with so little traction. Still, he is desperate and just as scared as the doe eyed creatures that freeze at the sight of him, so he manages to propel his body as close to the other bank as he can get. They turn away as his body begins to fall back down into the water, his front paws outstretched before him, claws scratching through the air frantically. He feels his nails catch on something—probably the river bank—when his head is once again under water. Realizing he never even took a breath in that brief moment of exposure, he inhales too deeply before getting to air again. Spluttering, blinded by the sudden surge of water in his lungs, wheezing at the intrusion, he realizes his claws are still caught in something rough. Vision blurred, he hopes against hope that his efforts have not been for nothing, and tugs at whatever is in his grasp. There is a high, shrill noise, something akin to a cry, and Jimin knows; he got one of the deer.

Realizing this, he wills his eyes to see past the water that drips into his eyes from his brow, past the tears from inhaling water. Under his right paw, pinned beneath claws, kicking and crying against the moist bed, is a small deer. He rips his leg out swiftly, dragging the struggling animal beneath the water to assume total control over it. Its screaming is never ending, reverberating through the empty forest uselessly; nothing will come back for it knowing it will put them in danger as well.

He takes a large gulp of air, exhales with relief when it doesn’t make him cough, and finally turns his attention to the deer struggling beneath him. He holds it beneath the water, spazzing underneath him. When it’s nearly still, he drags it across the river bank to the other side, the Kim Pack’s side, and hauls it onto the bed there. He takes a moment of pause to watch the lifeless creature splayed out before him, short brown fur glistening underneath the morning sun.

He did it.

He did it!

««««

Jin sits against the tree that has been their sanctuary for the past three days. He wills himself to sleep, to get some rest before Hyuna wakes with a new vigor. She stirs against his chest.

The Head Omega’s long hair tickles his skin as she comes to, cherry scent heightening and wrapping around him with a newfound possessiveness that fills his lungs with the shortest breath.

“Mm,” she hums as she wakes, arms tightening around his torso.

He knows her condition is just a matter of their biology, knows that the weakness she’s exhibited over the past three sunrises is not in her hands. Still, he can’t help the stirring in his chest as he watches her peaceful features contort in confusion as she takes in her surroundings.

She looks up at him, lashes still wet from the emotional rollercoaster of her heat. Surprising even to her, she doesn’t pull away from him.

“How long has it been?” she drawls tiredly, snuggling closer to rest her cheek against his shoulder.

He instinctively wraps one leg around hers, holding her closer. “Three days and nights,” he speaks quietly, soothingly. “How do you feel?”

“Like I can’t wait for this to end,” she grumbles. “This’s been the most unsatisfying heat ever.”

“Way to keep knocking my alpha ego down.”

She sighs at that. “I know why you’re holding back, Seokjin. Thank you.”

Of course she would understand. She originally comes from a pack that violated omegas whether in heat or not. Despite the pain his inhibitions cause her, she appreciates the sentiment.

“How long do your heats typically last?”

She looks at him again, eyes filled with apology. “Five days.”

He whistles through his teeth. Two more days. Two more days of wanting so badly to fuck her. Two more days of holding himself back.

“You’re almost there.”

She sits up then, takes a good look at their surroundings, of her body, of his. A red flush colors her round cheeks when she sees his member is hard, purple and painfully standing against his stomach, unattended to for the better part of this week. With a gulp, she offers, “You can—help yourself, if you need to.”

He would cover himself up with the soiled blankets now sprawled all around them, but what’s the point?

“I’m fine,” he assures her, not even glancing down at himself. He knows what he looks like. The throb has been incessant, paining him for a while now.

She shakes her head, clearing it. “Of all alphas,” she mumbles, running a hand through her matted hair, fighting to get her fingers out when they catch in a tangle. She clears her throat, purses her lips when she looks back to him. “I’ve never—never not been knotted…during a heat.”

He can’t even hide the shiver that runs through his nerves at those words. Yes. Yes, he wants to knot her. Will knot anything at this point. “I can’t.”

“If it’s for my sake, I’m giving you permission. Seokjin, I can feel it coming on again. Please.”

The desperation in her eyes and the voluptuousness of her body are convincing enough. Taking it all in now, their first moment of respite in nearly seventy-eight hours, even Jin doesn’t understand how he’s been able to keep himself in check.

“It won’t mean anything,” she promises.

He leans his head back against the tree trunk, sighs. “That’s exactly it, Hyuna. To you, it won’t. To me, helping someone through their—or someone helping me through a rut, for that matter—means something.”

“So old fashioned,” she huffs, pulling her knees up to her chest, hiding herself from him. She rests her chin on her legs, looks blankly at the expanse of the forest before her. Her eyes pierce shut, body collapses in on itself as she lets out a high moan.

Here they go again.

««««

Jimin reaches a clearing he recognizes belongs to the Kim Pack. Finally, he knows where he’s going.

He strides across the tree-less area to the other side, where the forest is dense once more, deer hanging from his jaws.

He did it. He’ll show them all, all the doubters, most importantly Jackson. He’ll toss the deer in his face, spit its blood out at his feet, because he caught them a deer, and they haven’t had deer in months.

Gosh, what a sensation. He gets it now, why alphas are the ones to hunt. Egotistical as they are, being capable of overtaking another animal, being able to provide for someone—it has him feeling powerful.

The scent of something warm and savory tickles his nostrils. It must be today’s lunch. He must be close.

He sprints the last few feet of the forest until the building is visible just beyond the trees. Maybe it’s the knowledge that this catch has officially cemented his place within the pack, but when he breaks through the underbrush and into the sunlit grounds of the Compound, he feels at home.

The deer falls from his grasp, limp. It lands with a thud at his feet. Leaning his head back, he aims for the skies when he howls, high, loud, triumphant. He remains in wolf forms as he awaits an answer to his call, repeating it when only a few pack members exit the building to see what’s going on. The looks of shock on all their faces has him standing taller, prouder.

He howls a third time, and at this people flood out of the building and onto the grounds, murmuring their shock at the vision before them. One deer is far from enough to satisfy them all, but it’s the rarity of it, and the fact that an omega barely larger than it is its predator, has them impressed.

Jimin scans the crowd for any sign of Jackson, but the Tactical Supervisor is nowhere in sight. He holds back a growl of disappointment, basks in the applause that starts up once everyone realizes the cause of the commotion.

Namjoon exits the building last, small smile playing on his thick lips. He holds something in his hands as he approaches Jimin proudly, reaches one hand out to pet the wolf’s snout. “Good job, omega,” he says quietly, not bothering to be heard over the celebrations happening behind him. Jimin’s wolf ears catch the praise nonetheless, press into the Leader’s hand in gratitude. “Shift back, put these on. We’ll celebrate your success properly once you’re all cleaned up.”

Not thinking anything of it, the conversation he’d had with the Leader days ago the last thing on his mind, Jimin shifts right in front of the crowd.

Namjoon’s eyes widen at the sight of the naked human before him. He takes two steps into Jimin’s space, blocking him from view, and thrusts the clothes into the omegas arms.

Realizing his mistake—he should have shifted back between the trees—Jimin flushes, drops the garments in his haste to pull something on. None of the people in the back seem to notice, Namjoon’s body large enough to completely shield him from view. “S-sorry,” he mumbles, stepping into the black pants quickly.

Namjoon, whose gaze had inadvertently wandered down, snaps his attention elsewhere. He shouldn’t appear so flustered, not in front of his members, and most definitely not in front of an omega who fears alphas as is. Embarrassed with himself, trying his best to calm the heat that crawls up his neck, he catches sight of the gashes in the omega’s chest. Five open incisions in a semicircle around one of his nipples, cleanly pierced.

Jimin follows the alpha’s line of sight, then quickly pulls the white shirt over his head. It’s large, slides down over one shoulder, but otherwise keeps him decent.

“The—the deer,” he stammers without thinking. Something tells him to keep Jackson’s visit to himself.

Namjoon’s eyes narrow. Whether he believes Jimin or not, he doesn’t say. Instead, he turns back to the crowd, pulling Jimin to the front. With one hand on the omega’s shoulder, he calls for the crowd to quiet down so he can make the newcomer’s position official.

“Having successfully proven his capability to sustain this pack should the responsibility fall on him; everyone, please welcome the new omega of the Kim Pack, Park Jimin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all: OMG THOSE SAMSUNG PICS NAMJOON I'M DEAD  
> second: WORLDWIDE AMBASSADOR'S FOR COCA-COLA?!!?! everything just likes to happen at once  
> third: LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!  
> i love reading your comments more than anything, so please any thoughts or feedback is more than welcome.  
> see ya'll next Friday!!  
> (Do you want something earlier than Friday? Because I can do that. Because it's my story and my rules. So just say the word ;))


	6. Who We Were Meant to Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A celebration is thrown to ring in Jimin's initiation into the pack. Drunk for the first time ever, Jimin begins to question everything about his life, leading him to finally opens up to Namjoon. The two have a moment. Also, news about a missing omega begins to spread to the surrounding packs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw/cw: panic attack, mentions of past abuse & non-con, mentions of underage mating, mentions of emotional/mental abuse.
> 
> this chapter is 10k words  
>  here's a cute little [moodboard](https://twitter.com/Moonfairy96/status/1351321778610720774) i created for this chapter. I hope you like it 😇

Namjoon speaks on Jimin’s behalf when he tells the crowd that the omega is too tired to celebrate now. Though they moan and groan about wanting “to finally get the soju out,” Namjoon doesn’t care for their feelings in that moment. Something is bothering him, and it very much has to do with the claw like gashes in Jimin’s chest.

“Where are we going?” Jimin wonders as Namjoon pulls him along gently through the slowly filling halls.

“Infirmary,” Namjoon tells him, keeping concern out of his tone. “Just a simple check-up. We’ll get those wounds in your chest cleaned up, and you’ll be good to go mingle with your new family.”

Namjoon pushes through the infirmary doors. “Where’s Kim Seokjin?” Jimin asks from behind him.

“Jin is…occupied at the moment.” He had watched him rush out the building with Hyuna in his arms from the fifth floor window. Jin holding Hyuna that way can only mean one thing; she’s in heat. Though she isn’t one to let herself go without preparation, he knew she at least will be in good hands. Jin is nothing if not thoughtfully careful. “Have a seat here,” Namjoon indicates to the bed, and he begins to rummage through the impeccably organized cabinets for some alcohol wipes and bandages. Hwasa won’t be needed; her services are typically utilized in more serious situations. “Why don’t you tell me how you really got those cuts?”

He hears the creak of metal as Jimin shifts on the bed. “I told you, it was the deer,” he repeats firmly.

The Leader casts him a doubtful look over his shoulder. “Jimin, I know the damage a deer can cause, and that’s not what it looks like.” Finally finding the bandages, he walks back to the bed, lowers himself into the rolling chair. “Nothing larger than a deer lurks in those forests…except for wolves.” And if there is a lone wolf roaming their territory, he needs to know about it.

Jimin’s wide eyes hold his gaze if only for a moment before shifting to the white porcelain floor. “I ran into a tree branch,” the omega mumbles seconds later, unconvincing even to his own ears.

He looks nearly as dirty as when Namjoon had first found him, dried mud streaked across his soft cheeks, hair dirty and matted in places. Still, there is a pleasant difference now, for his skin bears a healthy glow in the bright lights of the infirmary, his body looking a smidge fuller. Something about his expression looks guilty, though.

Namjoon sighs. “Do you mind taking your shirt off for me, Jimin?”

The omega blanches at this, neck snapping up at the request. “W-why?”

Namjoon holds the supplies up for him to see. “To clean your wounds.” When he still doesn’t look sure, Namjoon offers, “You can do it yourself, if you’d like.” He sets the gauze and wipes on the cot next to Jimin. “I’ll give you directions, just make sure to shower up before bandaging yourself. And—”

He’s interrupted when Yoongi pokes his head through the door. He looks bothered, as he usually does. He doesn’t blink twice at the scene before him, doesn’t question it. “Jungkook’s already set the speakers and lights up. Party’s happening whether we like it or not. They’re begging me to bring the drinks out, so I thought I’d check in with you one more time.”

Namjoon sighs at this. He’s not one to dampen anyone’s mood, not purposely at least. “You remember what happened the last time we held a party, right?” Hybrids didn’t know how to handle their alcohol, unaccustomed to the human tradition, but tempted by the lack of inhibition all the same.

“I’ll take responsibility, I guess,” Yoongi sighs. “Make sure everyone cleans up before they escape the mess. How ‘bout it?”

The Alpha Leader wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t want to partake in the festivities as well, so Namjoon reluctantly agrees and shoos him away. At least he knows who to aim his anger towards when shit hits the fan. Turning back to Jimin, he gives him directions on how to clean his wounds. “Most of the pack will be in the cafeteria when you’re done. You can join us there if you’re up for it.” With that, the leader up and goes.

Jimin remains still in the now silent and empty infirmary, eyeing the supplies laid out next to him. Blood from his chest has now soaked through his shirt, staining the left side red. Peeling the white t-shirt off, he’s surprised at his tolerance for the pain. It has him wincing when he tugs at the gashes too much, but it’s otherwise bearable.

He showers quickly, curious to get to the cafeteria and see what all the fuss is about. If there is a celebration, he wants to take part of that, too. Whatever this pack’s traditions are, he wants to be included. He follows Namjoon’s instructions carefully, rips open a small square packet containing wet wipes to disinfect the cuts. They’re deep, but not worryingly so. The omega whimpers and all but shrieks as he tends to the wounds, his nerves on fire every time the disinfectant makes contact with his exposed flesh. Then, he takes the roll of gauze and fights with it for a moment before figuring out the best way to get it around himself. He ends up with a bandaged chest, wrapping around from underneath his arms, and ties a small knot at the end to keep it in place. He changes into a new shirt from the supply given to him, the ones stowed away in his and Hyuna’s shared room. Everything is too large on him, reminding him how small and weak he is, but he keeps the deer at the forefront of his mind. He may be built like a pup, but he had successfully hunted an animal—a large one at that—and it allows him enough confidence to throw a fresh pair of shorts on and head back down and to the cafeteria.

As when he first arrived, Jimin feels like he’s entering a whole new universe. The tables that usually split the room into a grid are folded up and set against a far wall. The lights are off, but something else casts rainbows of colors around the place. A musical sound plays, deep and loud to the point Jimin cannot even hear himself. And the Kim Pack members—his pack members, it begins to dawn on him—are dancing and laughing so freely in a way that makes him feel giddy.

From a distance, he spots the leader, who stands out no matter the situation. He grins broadly as he watches over the room. Yoongi stands next to him, shaking his head but smiling nonetheless, a red cup pressed just underneath his bottom lip.

Someone pounces at Jimin from the right, sending him jumping backwards. “Try this,” Chae-rin has to practically shout over the noise, holding a red cup out to Jimin.

“What is it?” he yells back, peering into the yellow tinted liquid inside. He glances around the room, sees most everyone nursing their own red cup, and accepts the offering. Truthfully, it looks more like urine that anything enticing, so he’s hesitant to bring it to his lips.

“Beer,” Chae-rin tells him, and leaves her explanation at that. As if he’s supposed to know what beer is.

“It’s good, trust me,” Yugyeom promises, popping up from behind his friend’s shoulder. “It’s a fermented drink. The more you drink the fuzzier and warmer you’ll feel. Just don’t go overboard. Yoongi nearly teared us a new one the last time we had a party. People were puking all over the place.”

“That was a good time,” Chae-rin laughs.

“It was a gross time,” Yugyeom corrects, and Jimin doesn’t understand what about their exchange is supposed to convince him to consume this.

He does anyway, not one to ever want to be left out. The moment the beer touches his tongue, he cringes at the bitterness, though the aftertaste isn’t so bad.

Yugyeom pats him on the back, chuckles at his disgusted expression. “You’ll get used to it eventually. Come, dance with us. Parties are rare around here, so make the most of what you can.”

Jimin mostly follows them around, absently sipping from his cup whenever he’s lost as to what to do. Something is amazing about the changed demeanor of the people he’s spent the past few weeks with. They’re lighter, happier, silly. Even Yoongi is laughing, and Jimin notes it’s the first time he’s seen him genuinely smile. He makes a mental note to thank him for the words of encouragement he’d offered just before his initiation.

He’s bumped and scooted across the floor as he follows Chae-rin and Yugyeom to one long table littered with different sized and colored bottles. “It’s your first time, so I think you should get a feel for everything,” Chae-rin tells him, leaning down so he can better hear her. “It’s the only way to find your favorite.”

“I’ll bartend,” Yugyeom giggles, and he steps around the table and begins working the caps off all the bottles. “First up, whiskey.” He has Jimin throw back the remnants of his beer before pouring whiskey, whatever that is, into the now the empty cup. It’s just a bit, enough for a single sip, and Jimin goes to town, with every new drink awaiting the warm and fuzzy feeling Yugyeom promised.

Namjoon watches Jungkook drop down onto the ground and do a gyrating move that has everyone around him bursting out into bubbly giggles. The leader laughs when Taehyung smacks Jungkook’s ass in scolding, not able to keep a smile off his own face at the raunchy dance.

“We really needed this,” Yoongi sighs from next to him, already on his second cup of whiskey. He holds his alcohol well. “Pack morale has been low lately. Thanks for letting them loosen up.”

Namjoon doesn’t think he had much of a choice, but he doesn’t say as much. Though he tries to keep up a hard and tough persona, he’s also secretly glad for the excuse to shed that responsibility if only for a night.

From his position at the back of the cafeteria, he has a sweeping view of the pack members, inadvertently keeping an eye, making sure no one gets into any trouble. He’s forgotten who it was that officially introduced them to alcoholic drinks, knows it was for sure one of Jackson’s fighters, if not Jackson himself. Jin had warned them of the effects, had foreshadowed lunatic behavior, but even Namjoon had not taken his warnings seriously. They don’t party often in the Compound, and so the pack’s behavior on that day flashes clearly in his mind, reminding him that he can’t let his guard down too much. Yoongi had wandered the place wide eyed and ghostly, holding his cup to his chest and treating it like a newfound treasure. He’d claimed to have found his reason to live. Taehyung, on the other hand, had rounded the place voicing his deepest darkest concerns to anyone to who would listen, ending his night hurling over a toilet. Jungkook, then single and a playboy, had grinded on and flirted with every living being within the vicinity, complicating his friendship with Taehyung for the longest time. Jin, the pro he is, had drank and drank to his heart’s desire, his tolerance the highest of anyone here thanks to his college days. There was vomit, there was crying, there were questionable romances. It was wild, and then it was despicable. Jin had woken up earliest the next morning, laughing at the mess in the cafeteria as he sipped on a steaming cup of coffee.

“Yup, this takes me back,” he’d commented. Namjoon had never lived with the humans, never attended college. He didn’t understand what was so amusing about the disgusting condition of their home, but he did recognize that alcohol needed to be regulated.

They’ve gotten better since then, he notes mentally, scanning the room over and over. They’re handling their drinks better. The mess this time around won’t be so bad, and that’s a relief.

His eyes wander over to the drinks table, topped with all kinds of brands and flavors the fighters have oh so kindly supplied over their many trips to the warehouse. The leader catches Jimin there, now dressed in a black t-shirt that reaches his knees, short shorts barely visible from underneath depending on the way he stands. The alpha blinks a little, clears his throat and looks away momentarily before being drawn back to the table. The omega hangs around Chae-rin and Yugyeom often, and he is with them now, too. They laugh and shout something indiscernible under the deeply resonating music. They pour drink after drink in Jimin’s cup, watch excitedly for his reaction after each one. The omega seems to be having a blast, laughing right along, body bending forward in half or throwing itself sideways with every laugh.

Something blond and vanilla scented slinks its way next to Namjoon, wiry arm sliding around his hard waist. He promptly begins to breathe lightly, wary of inhaling too deeply. How can it be that her scent is so potent even on suppressants?

He just really, really dislikes vanilla.

“My bed’s been awfully cold lately,” Solar sings, head resting against his left arm.

“I can put in a request for a heater…”

He sees her leg twitch, holding herself back from stomping petulantly. “Stop being an asshole to me,” she pouts, moving to stand before him. In his slight haze, she’s prettier than ever. Lips inviting, soft hair falling ever so softly over her lithe shoulders, long neck slim, jugular calling for him. He also notes the glazed look in her eyes. She’s drunk.

“I don’t intend to be an asshole,” he exhales, inhaling again through his mouth.

“No, but you are. Why are you making me work so damn hard to have you? Come on.” She tugs on his sleeve lightly, eyes drooping ever so slightly. She leans up on her tiptoes, presses her cheek to his. “My room’s just a few feet away,” she whispers just loud enough for him to hear over the music. “And I’m going to need a companion for my heat.”

“Solar…” he begins, another rejection on the tip of his tongue.

When she pulls back, her eyes are tear filled. “I’m really lonely, Alpha,” she pouts, and he’s almost convinced. He’s close to giving in, if only to get her off his back. Close, because yeah, he feels the loneliness a little too viscerally these days. Closer, because it’s been so long, _so_ long…

He has never wanted for someone, never had a one sided attraction. He doesn’t know what kind of pain comes with needing someone who cannot stand your scent. And he feels like shit every time he turns her down, knows it’s in neither of their hands, the way he just _can’t_.

“Why me?” he asks her, and the question clearly catches her off guard. He’s surprised as well, having thought it without any intention of voicing it aloud. But now it’s out there, he looks like more of an asshole, and he can’t bring himself to look her in the eye. Taking a page out of Yoongi’s anti-social book, he distracts himself with his drink, peering awkwardly into his cup as he lifts it to his face to drink.

Solar actually responds. “Because you’re…you’re handsome,” she slurs, playing with his sleeve again, eyes trained to avoid looking at his. “You’re handsome, and tall, and the leader. And you’re patient, and dominant, and so, so sexy. You’re an alpha. A real alpha. And I’m an omega,” she adds moodily. “And gods, I don’t know why I want what I want. I just want you. Please.”

Namjoon looks away, tilts his head back to take in a deep, wishfully cleansing breath. When his eyes rove over the room once more, mind on the brink of giving in, he catches sight of Jimin again. He stands between Yugyeom and Chae-rin now, small and short in between their dancing bodies, moving smoothly to the party music. Maybe it’s the state of the alpha’s mind in the moment, maybe it’s his need to escape the vanilla wafting over him, slowly constricting his breathing, but the omega is actually cute like this. Namjoon imagines the oversized shirt he wears as drenched in his own scent, rubbing off on Jimin, mixing with his…whatever that is, the alpha hasn’t had the opportunity to truly scent him. Suddenly, overbearingly so, he feels a deep desire to do just that.

Solar’s tugging brings his attention back to her, and he offers her the first excuse he can think of in the moment. “I’ve got someone.”

The drop in her shoulders upsets him. He feels guilty for the lie, hates that is has to come down to this to get her off his back. Though an insult, he’s told her time and again that her scent doesn’t do it for him. Any other omega would have huffed and puffed, maybe cried, and hated him for forever after. Not Solar, no. She’s only become more persistent.

“Wh-who?” she wants to know, expression downcast.

“Just…someone. But I do. And that’s why I can’t, Solar. So…please.” He pulls his sleeve from her grasp and begins moving away, leaving behind Jungkook and Taehyung who are at this point making out a few feet away. Yoongi disappeared a while ago to refill his drink, and he focuses on the back of the alpha’s head as he moves swiftly across the cafeteria to join him and pretend to busy himself with a refill as well, hoping Solar won’t follow.

Three full drinks in, and Jimin is feeling it. Whatever it is he’s supposed to be feeling, it’s moving him, making him laugh at the stupidest of Yugyeom’s jokes, making it all too easy to welcome the handsy alphas who slip in next to him for a short dance before Chae-rin pulls him back towards her, shooing them away. Somewhere in the back of his hazy mind he knows something is not right, something is most definitely wrong with him, but no thought lingers long enough for him to make sense of it.

Yoongi elbows the leader as Namjoon pulls up next to him, exhaling roughly. “You good?” he asks, pouring liquor into his friend’s cup before the other can ask him to. He just knows.

“If I tell you, you’ll laugh at me,” he admits. “So yeah, I’m just fine.”

“Good. Because our new initiate looks like he’s about to lose his shit over there. He might need someone responsible to step in, and it sure as hell isn’t me.”

Namjoon whips around at the mention, quickly finding Jimin in the throng of dancing bodies once again. It’s in his nature to look out for people, that has to be why his eyes land on him so easily every time. And Yoongi is right. Jimin, who was dancing mere moments before, stands frozen in the center of the room, eyes glued to something nonexistent on the ground. Chae-rin and Yugyeom are too consumed with the attention from those around them to notice Jimin any longer. But the increasingly wild look in the omega’s eyes tells Namjoon that he’s going through some sort of silent crisis as people move around him, shoving into him left and right as they disregard his frozen frame. Yoongi breaks from Namjoon, going to flirt with a gaggle of omegas near the exit, and Namjoon moves as well, onto the makeshift dance floor, watching intently as Jimin suddenly drops his cup and grips his hair in two small fists.

From somewhere to his left, vanilla threatens to approach him, but Namjoon disregards Solar’s incoming figure when he turns his back on her and grips Jimin gently by the shoulders. “Hey,” he says softly, leaning down to better read his face. “Hey, you alright?”

Jimin’s breathing comes out fast and ragged, deep and strained. His eyes are blown wide, still staring at whatever spot has captured his distressed attention between Namjoon’s shoes. He can’t speak, and Namjoon has the sense of mind to forgo being gentle and begin dragging him out of the room, out into fresh, open air.

Something about the attention of the others as he’s dragged out of the room shames Jimin, and he hides his face behind his arm as tears begin freefalling down his face. Even he can’t place where they’d come from, but it’s overwhelming, the need to cry. He’s not even aware of who is pulling him out of the cafeteria, only that he suddenly cannot wait to escape.

They’re out of the cafeteria and outside the front doors in a span of a few strides. Jimin inhales like he’s been choking, coughs through the onslaught of tears pouring out. Once again, Namjoon is at a loss. He’s aware of the omega’s distrust in him, aware that he probably needs Seokjin or Hyuna at the moment. But seeing as they’re both occupied, he’s stuck with Namjoon.

Jimin heaves, over and over. He crouches low, head hanging somberly between his knees as the sobs only increase, grow louder the more despaired he becomes. Namjoon can do nothing more than watch. He’s seen this before in other members the first time they’d gotten their hands on a drink. He’s seen this in members who haven’t had a drink in their life.

He lowers himself to level with the omega again, rubs slow circles on his back. “Breathe with me now. In…” He inhales, and Jimin shakily follows, head still bowed. “…out.” They breathe out together, and repeat. In and out. In and out.

The sun is in the east now, readying to set, throwing their surroundings in an ominously orange glow. The music from inside the building can be heard, a disturbance to the nature surrounding them, but muffled enough for the two hybrids to momentarily ignore.

With shaking hands, Jimin grips the front of Namjoon’s shirt, barely applying any pressure when he pulls him slightly towards him. Namjoon falters, wonders if he’s reading the omega correctly. _Fuck it_ , he thinks, and follows the direction of the force, nuzzling his nose in Jimin’s skin, just below his right ear. He drags his lips against the skin there, trying hard to maintain some semblance of control over his muddled brain, doing his best not to scent the omega properly. He’s not sure what mind Jimin is in now, and the last thing he wants is to make him feel uncomfortable while in a fragile state.

The effect is immediate. Jimin relaxes, albeit slightly, and exposes his neck even more, giving Namjoon free reign over that area. The alpha obliges, mouthing at the skin there, releasing what pheromones he can to calm. It takes a moment or two, but Jimin’s sniffles begin to die down, his breathing more regulated, and he relaxes into the alpha’s grip. His body begins to loosen up, legs going limp. Namjoon wraps both arms around the smaller ones shoulders holding him up as he continues his ruminations over his neck, shoulder, cheek, feeling safer doing that than remaining over his scent gland.

“ _Alpha_ ,” sighs Jimin whispily.

Namjoon stalls. His lips pause over the same spot where he started, just below the omega’s ear. He pulls away slightly, arms still steadying. He looks over the relaxed expression Jimin wears, wet tears just beginning to dry on his slightly rosy cheeks. He looks Namjoon dead in the eye. “Do you want me to stop?” Namjoon asks, voice too low in the quiet around them.

Jimin hesitates, almost as if contemplating his answer, almost as if he wants Namjoon to continue. He blinks once, twice. Then he nods, releases the hold he still bears on Namjoon’s collar.

Namjoon backs away slowly, makes sure Jimin can stand on his own two feet before ultimately letting go, taking a step away from the confused omega.

“I-I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he confesses, staring hard at the ground. “I’m—I’m s-sorry.” Jimin is on the verge of tears again.

“It looked like a panic attack to me,” Namjoon offers comfortingly. “But I’m no expert. We can ask Jin…when he’s back.”

Jimin closes his eyes, exhales. “I d-don’t know what that is.” He inhales sharply then. “I d-don’t know what anything is. I don’t—I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t know why I feel like this, I…I—”

Namjoon moves towards him once again, ready to lend his services, heart twisting painfully for reasons beyond him. The face Jimin makes is to pitiful, so heartbreaking, that he can’t help but want to do something, to make sure he never feels like this again. But the omega puts a hand up, steadies himself with one hand on his knee, resumes taking deep breaths.

“This—it helps,” he gasps shallowly. “Thank you.”

Namjoon only asks when it’s safe, when Jimin seems to have gathered himself once more. “Do you want to tell me what’s on your mind?”

Jimin is intent on avoiding the leader’s gaze. It’s beginning to wash over him, who this man standing before him is. He feels ashamed. He feels embarrassed, and confused, and a little nauseous. “N-no. No, I-I’m sorry about…about this. I think—I’m going to bed. Please tell Hyuna…please tell her to hurry home.”

With a lump in his throat, he turns to head back inside, to the comforting walls of his dorm, but Namjoon can’t let him go. Not in this state, and where he feels the only ally he has is the Head Omega. That’s not how things around here work. At least, that’s not how Namjoon wants them to work.

“Jimin, you aren’t bothering me or…distracting me, or whatever it is you think you’re doing,” he says reassuringly to the smaller hybrids retreating back. He gets what he wants: Jimin hesitates on the spot, shoulders up to his ears, in defense mode. “I may not be your favorite around here, but…actually, I don’t know when Hyuna or Seokjin are going to be back. So…so, if you feel like you want to talk someone, I’m here. And I’m a pretty great listener.”

Jimin’s frame shudders, but he doesn’t turn back around. If he’s crying again, Namjoon can’t see. But he lowers his shoulders and mumbles something, too quiet for even the alpha and his heightened senses to hear.

“I didn’t catch that,” he says to the omega’s back. He keeps himself from approaching him, from scenting him again. The suppressants, they must be extra strong on this one. He still doesn’t catch his scent.

Jimin throws his head back, eyes closed as the orange sunset washes over his sinking face. “Gods, I can’t keep him from infiltrating my mid. Why….I’ve gotten so far away from him, but he’s still—” A hand flies up to his neck, to the left side where his scratched out mating mark sits. “He’s still here. If he saw me right now—saw what I was doing in there…I’m dead.” He inhales again, gasps, shudders. “My gods, he’s going to kill me. H-he’s—” He curls in on himself, and Namjoon is moving again, whether his presence is welcome or not. Jimin whines. “He’s going to find me and he’s going to kill me, w-what am I going to do?”

He wails, but Namjoon is upon him before the omega knows what’s happening. He clings onto Namjoon, baring his neck again, asking for comfort. And Namjoon gives it, willingly and whole heartedly. He knows about Jimin’s alpha, knows he has scarred the poor thing enough to send him running away, risking the harrowing pain of a bond. But he never truly was able to wrap his head around just how much. Until now.

One arm going around the omega’s legs, he hitches him up until he’s cradling him, giving himself better access to where Jimin wants to be scented. “Do you want me to take you to Hyuna’s room?”

Jimin shakes his head, hands holding onto Namjoon for dear life. He buries his face in his shirt, tear stained cheeks soaking it immediately.

Without overthinking his own actions, Namjoon reenters the Compound, Jimin curled up in his arms. He rushes past Jackson, who has been peering out the front windows for who knows how long. It doesn’t matter now, but it will later, after Jimin is taken care of.

Namjoon ends up hauling him up to the fifth floor, to his own room. If the omega needs Namjoon’s soapy scent, then he is going to get it. The leader tucks him in snugly into his own bed, cocooning him in the sheets, lets him hog the pillows and drown himself in them as he cries himself to sleep.

Leaning away from the sleeping figure, having just been able to peel his fingers from the neck of his shirt, he exhales heavily, looks down upon the small bundle in the center of his bed. There is a tightness between his ribs as he begins to melt at the sight, but the shadow of a tug in his mating bite brings him back to reality.

With unsettling clarity, he remembers who he is and where. He remembers Hyo-rin, the little life inside her he never got to meet. He remembers he is the leader of an entire pack, and scenting one but not all is a dangerous game.

He remembers his vow to keep away from the delicate because he is selfish and cannot tolerate the pain of loss again and again.

«««

Namjoon doesn’t fall asleep straight away. He spends hours into the night wandering from the sofas to the bed. With every one of Jimin’s unconscious sniffles, the alpha is back on his feet, ready to comfort. When Jimin wakes up in the middle of the night to expel the contents of his stomach, Namjoon hold a trashcan beneath his chin and assures hm through every second. And even when the omega seems settled for the night, Namjoon is startled awake from his spot on the couch by some noise conjured up in his mind.

Still, the leader manages to be up and alert by morning time. He leaves Jimin sleeping in the bed, locks the door behind him to keep anyone from surprising him out of his slumber, and slips to the first floor for his routine rounds.

First stop is the cafeteria. He needs to assess the damage, scold those responsible. Upon entering the large space, he sees it’s highly unnecessary. Yoongi stands in the middle of the room, dictating a few alphas and betas as they mop the floors. The place smells like cleaning fluid, the tables are in the process of being laid out again, and there is not a speck of trash in sight.

Yoongi yawns, hands coming over his mouth to stifle it. “You take your responsibilities seriously,” Namjoon shouts across the cafeteria, earning annoyed side glances from the surrounding alphas. They have no doubt been working to clean the place up since the party ended, though Namjoon wonders what hour that could have been. Concrete walls are pretty great at soundproofing; he hadn’t heard anything up on the fifth floor.

Yoongi mumbles a thanks before another yawn overtakes him. “Ha sthee ‘mega?” he asks, words warbled as he speaks through the tail end of a third yawn. “Saw you peeling him out of here last night, he looked wrecked.”

For some reason or another, Namjoon doesn’t want to divulge what happened last night. Not that he understands beyond the omega’s drunken, panicked ramblings, but even that he wants to keep to himself. But he had made Jimin everyone’s business when he promised to keep them informed, so he gives Yoongi the bare minimum, chalks it up to an alcohol induced panic attack and nothing more.

Like Namjoon’s brother, Yoongi is highly perceptive. He is quiet, non-inquisitive, and nonconfrontational, but he can read a man better than he can read himself. He sees right through Namjoon. He catches things in the leader’s behavior the leader still has to figure out, but true to his character, he doesn’t push the subject. Namjoon excuses himself, his friend’s eyes boring into his soul unnervingly so, and heads out to complete his regular survey of the perimeter.

Surprisingly, he isn’t as exhausted as he thought he would be after such an eventful night. He finds he has the energy to roam the entire territory, attention not at all muddled by his lack of sleep. He is not as youthful as he once was, lacks the fighter’s spirit of a mere three years ago, but apparently he can still manage off just a few hours of sleep.

He doesn’t meet Son Hyun-woo in the east, but there is someone waiting for him when he reaches the north. The air along this particular border is his favorite, crisp thanks to the waterfall not too far from him now, and the ever flowing river that separates the Kim’s from the Lee’s. Their pack leader sits crossed legged along the back on her side, meditating in the morning sun, no doubt waiting for his arrival. He only thinks that because she opens one eye when she hears the crackling of brush underneath the large grey wolf’s paws and smiles welcomingly. Namjoon shifts right there. He has been through more than a great deal with the Lee’s. Besides, they’re a pack who prefer to be one with nature.

“Hyebin,” Namjoon greets her with a short bow, lowering himself onto the bank as well. “Having a good morning?”

She doesn’t let on that there is anything the matter, so he allows himself to relax into the same position she sits in; left leg folded over the right, arms limp by his side. In his years appealing to leaders of other packs, he has learned that mimicking their habits builds a sense of familiarity and trust between them. Not that any of them have any reason to distrust each other, but packs are relatively secretive regardless of how harmless they come across.

Hyebin’s smile broadens at the question. “It’s been wonderful so far. I know your route and your stops, and was actually hoping to meet you here.”

The Lee’s are one of the weirder packs, he must admit. As friendly as they all are, sometimes they come off as a little…too friendly. The reasoning is ridiculous, but they’re strange nonetheless.

“Here I am.”

“Here you are,” Hyebin repeats gladly. “One of my omegas was out here yesterday, roaming our lands as she does. From the edge of the forest, right about…” She turns to her right, points between two trees Namjoon cannot possibly decipher from the rest considering his angle. “…there.” Turning back to Namjoon, she continues. “She says she didn’t recognize this particular wolf, which lead me to wonder if you have a new pack member.”

Namjoon is not obligated to divulge this information to her. It never was stated explicitly in the treaty that new initiates need to be disclosed with nearby packs, and that is Jimin—and Namjoon’s ass’s—saving grace. Although he has no particular issue with being honest with the Lee pack and their leader, he knows better than to give up Jimin’s presence, especially when he doesn’t know one hundred percent the risk that poses. Especially after last night.

“No, we don’t have any new members,” he lies easily, a professional.

It is strange that Hyebin would be asking about that, however. She never has questioned any of his members before. It cannot be a coincidence that she does now, under these circumstances.

As if reading his mind, Hyebin clarifies. “You see, the reason I ask is because my omega saw yours struggling in these waters.” She pauses, eyes follow the river with a sweep before looking back up at him. Her smile never falters, never looks strained or forced. “She says a deer was ripped from our land.”

 _Fuck_.

Namjoon’s shoulders tense imperceptibly. He should have questioned Jimin. He should have asked where exactly this deer was found. Namjoon knows their territory has a limited amount, for gods’ sakes. If he had not been so distracted with the omega’s wounds…

He lowers his head in apology. “Forgive my lapses as a leader.” Looking her dead in the eye, expression as unassuming as can be, he spins a tale. “We lost track of a group of our pups yesterday.” Jimin, with his small and dainty frame, can pass as a pup, right? “They managed to get themselves lost in the forest. We have been on a strict diet of rabbits recently. Maybe they missed heartier meats. Maybe they thought they were doing the pack a favor. Whatever reason behind their actions, I accept full responsibility.”

“Kim Namjoon!” Hyejin scolds lightly, held cocked to the side. “I am not reprimanding you, my old friend. The deer was technically killed within these waters. It really put up a fight, I hope your omega is okay. But these waters are owned by no one, and I take your words to heart. There is no responsibility to be taken.”

He relaxes completely. “I am pleased one of your own bore witness; I would be affronted if any misunderstandings were to come between us.”

“No worries, no worries my dear. Ah—I do mean to ask, however…if any brother or sister has visited you lately.”

She knows something. She has made it a point to meet him here not only because of the deer, but she knows something she shouldn’t.

“All is well on my end. Why do you ask?”

Hyebin exhales, a minor slip in her composure. “There have been rumblings, Kim Pack Leader, that an alpha—a wild one—is making the rounds in search of his omega.” Namjoon remain stoic. “Rumor has it he has terrorized the humans, thinking the omega has fled to their land. Apparently, he cannot trace this omega’s scent and has been visiting various packs in his search. And when my omega mentioned seeing a floundering omega just yesterday, I figured to check in with you.”

“I appreciate your candidness, Lee Pack Leader.” He bows his head once more. “If such an alpha happens to cross my path, I will make sure you are the first to know.”

“So there is nothing we need to worry about?” she presses, remaining suspicious.

“I know just about as much as you do now, Hyejin.” He rises to his feet then, effectively ending the exchange. He’s not sure how much longer he can sit here and pretend his composure is not cracking. “As I said, if I come across such an alpha I will call for you ahead of anyone else. I hope nothing more concerns you. I have to finish my rounds and get back to my pack—”

“Of course, of course.” She gets to her feet as well, cheeks rounded in that signature smile of hers. “Sorry to keep you from your duties. I hope I haven’t stolen too much of your time.”

“No worries, my friend. I hope to see you around more often.” He turns on the balls of his feet and shifts before she can respond, strides easily into the forest, taking cover between the trees. A low growl rumbles in his chest, teeth bared at the prospect of an uninvited wolf treading his territory. He doesn’t head back to the Compound with the same urgency as usual. Instead, he strolls through the dense thicket, scaring off innocent birds and small animals in his path as he contemplates his next moves.

He could call for another meeting. It would be the third this month, already more than they have ever held in a single four week span. Surely that would spark suspicion within his own pack, unsettle them. Do they have reason to fear Jimin’s mate? He just doesn’t know enough about him to figure that much.

Still, upon reentering the Compound, he tells those who are necessary to be aware of the North pack’s warnings. Yoongi, because he’s second in command and the Head Alpha. Hyuna, who he catches on her way out of the fifth floor bathrooms, as the Head Omega. He nearly tells her to inform Jin as well, but catches himself at the last second. Whatever they have going on, he needs to grill his brother about it before assuming things. And, for the sake of full disclosure (and because he’s in charge of the pack’s defense), he informs Jackson. Namjoon almost expects the Tactical Supervisor to rub this information in his face. To scold him for his uninformed decision of allowing the new omega’s initiation, maybe even remind him that he’s not fit to be leader, that Jackson should be in his place instead. Upon hearing the warning, the alpha looks momentarily pissed, then makes a quiet promise to keep the fighters alert. He walks away with just that.

Just as expected, Jimin still lies sleeping peacefully in his bed when Namjoon is back in his room. Closing the door behind him gently, Namjoon approaches the bed, sits at the edge to wake the younger hybrid. As the quiet stuffiness of the room settles around him, as he momentarily casts biting doubt from his mind, Namjoon is stricken by flashing scenarios, ones he has attempted the better of three years avoiding. By all means, Jimin is an attractive omega. He has a rare beauty that’s difficult to deny or avoid. If only the omega wasn’t so helpless. If only his background wasn’t such a mystery, then maybe…maybe Jimin could be someone Namjoon could extend a piece of himself to.

Sleeping with someone next to him in his bed, waking up to someone in the mornings, feeling _something_ he hasn’t in a long, long time. The scenarios are fleeting, things that will not do the ache in Namjoon’s faded mating mark any good, and as he shakes the omega awake, Namjoon casts those thoughts out as well.

“Jimin, it’s the afternoon,” he says quietly, brushing back sweat matted hair off the younger’s forehead. “You need to wake up.”

The omega’s full, slightly parted lips close. His eyes squeeze together as he comes to. He shifts underneath the sheets slightly, arms come up as he stretches himself awake. One eye opens narrowly, and Namjoon scoots back an inch as the omega startles up, suddenly fully awake. He gives him a moment to adjust, to take in the strange room. When the alpha recognizes panic settling on the omega, he quickly explains.

“You drank too much last night. Needed a moment. I figured it would be best for you stay here so I can look after you.” He nods towards the sofas a few feet away. “I’ve brought breakfast up for you. It’ll help the headache if you eat and take some medicine.”

Jimin’s panic subsides almost immediately. He’s seen time and again that the alphas here—that this leader—are nothing like what he knows. “I—I don’t remember what happened last night,” he admits quietly, subconsciously pulling the sheets about him.

Namjoon smiles. “Yeah, that can happen sometimes. How about I tell you over food?” He gets off the bed and waits for Jimin to follow. Seeing he’s expected to do the same, Jimin swings his feet off the edge, then sways in his seat.

“I think….” Jimin closes his eyes, the world swimming behind his eyelids, his jaw heavy with sickness. “I think I’m—I’m going to…”

Namjoon is quick to react, picks up the waste basket next to his bed and holds it before the omega. Jimin immediately hugs it to his chest, holds his face over it, waiting. The nausea is there, but the feeling just lingers, vomit threatening but unwilling to spill out.

“Yugyeom and Chae-rin should have been more careful with you,” the leader mutters disapprovingly. “They remember their first time. They should have known better.”

Jimin shakes his head. “I wanted to,” he sighs, closing his eyes again. “There’s so much I don’t know. So much I want to learn. It’s not their fault.”

Maybe it’s in Jimin’s nature to put blame on himself, maybe the omega only knows how to claim responsibility whether well placed or not.

“Don’t rush the process, Jimin,” Namjoon tells him kindly, watching as the omega inhales a deep breath and sits himself up straight. “You’re right, there is a lot to learn. But it’s not going to happen all at once.”

Jimin’s wide eyes blink up at him a few times, registering his words, his features, something. After a moment, he sets his feet on the ground and rises off the bed, trash can clutched like a security blanket. He follows Namjoon to the sofas, eyes the plate of food with disgust, then notices the two pills sitting beside the plate. “I thought I don’t have to take suppressants often,” he recognizes the size, shape, and color of the medication.

Namjoon settles in the sofa across from him. He feels a ping of pride at the omega’s recollection of suppressants. It takes him back to the early days of the pack, when everything was new, when his members slowly began to learn their worth and the many spaces they can take up in this wide, wide universe. Their lives had once been boiled down to alpha, beta, omega, born to procreate and hunt and nothing more. Many self-discoveries have been made since then, enough that Namjoon sometimes forgets why this pack even exists, why they won’t do better belonging somewhere else, under the leadership of someone more capable than him. Recognizing a pill, remembering its name, might not be much. But Jimin’s reality is changing. And the alpha believes in his words; things will not happen all at once. But they will eventually.

“These particular ones aren’t suppressants. It’s acetaminophen. They’ll help with your headache, which I’m sure will only get worse and worse as we sit here.” Jimin nods in understanding. “You don’t have to eat right away. It’ll take a while, but eventually you’ll feel better. But you can’t take these pills until you’ve gotten something in your system.”

Everything about Jimin is conflicted. His reality has been shifting since he came upon this pack, everything he had ever known questioned and turned upside down. He really had just spent a night in the leader’s room, and he feels fine. Sick from whatever he had consumed last night, sure. Sore from his nights in the forest, of course. But nothing like the all too familiar feelings he wakes up with when his alpha has had his way with him. Nothing like Namjoon had made use of Jimin’s small, weak, inebriated omega body. Jimin feels as if he could cry.

Staring shakily at the table before him, eyeing the plate of food without a semblance of appetite, he says, “I’m sorry. I can’t—I don’t remember much, but I never meant to be a disturbance, or—”

“Park Jimin,” Namjoon stops him right there. In this moment he truly reminds him of his former mate when they had first been claimed for each other. It had taken nearly their entire relationship for her to stop apologizing for issues that warranted no apology. All because the society they had grown up in always made omegas feel as if they owed everyone everything. Namjoon lowers his head, tries to make eye contact with the tearful omega, wishing for his next words to truly sink in. “I don’t ever want to hear an apology from you. Ever. Unless you purposely put one of our members in danger, unless you commit something undeniably horrendous, I don’t want to hear you say sorry. Some things are not worth apologizing for. And last night is one of them.”

Despite Namjoon’s efforts, Jimin still manages to avoid his eyes. Instead, he asks, “What happened?”

Leaning back on the couch with an abundance of patients, Namjoon offers the omega a watered down version of the previous nights breakdown. Regardless, Jimin looks appalled, mouth gaping as he registers the content of his outburst. Finally, Namjoon tells him, “You were so distraught that I was hoping you could fill me on your mate,” and it’s not lost on the leader the way Jimin physically cringes at the word. “If they’re someone you feared, we need to know more about them. I need to know if my pack—our pack—might be in danger.” He leaves out the fact that the alpha is looking for him. The omega looks to be in too fragile a state to hear that.

“I can’t,” he whispers desperately, pulling the blanket around his shoulders tighter, food now going cold on the table between them.

“I need you to realize, Jimin, that you’re one of us now,” Namjoon reminds him. “Whatever you’re afraid of, I—we can protect you.”

Jimin picks his chin up slightly, meeting Namjoon’s eyes for the first time since he woke. He had been all too willing to divulge pack secrets to Seokjin and Hyuna during his earliest days with the Kim Pack, but somehow, getting taken care of like this, sitting across from his new leader, having finally gotten what he wanted—a new home—he cannot bring himself to say anything more about his previous family. Why does he feel more afraid now of what the Silmul’s could do to him than he did before the initiation?

Maybe because, unlike a few days ago, he has something to lose if they get to him. And if they even as much as suspect that he said anything about them to any member of the Kim Pack, his punishment is sure to be a hundred times worse than for having run away.

There’s a softness to the alpha’s light brown eyes that Jimin isn’t used to seeing, though he feels this is something he should be used to by now. His fear for the authoritative class is so engrained that the need to remind himself of Namjoon’s kind nature is constant. When he begins to speak, it’s only because something about the leader tells him that he can trust this man with his life. So, he begins to tell him all there is to know about the Silmul’s, no details spared. Why he starts with what he does, Jimin is not sure. But when the first words escape him, he doesn’t stop.

“Pups are separated from their parents as soon as they’re born,” he says quietly, pensive eyes still trained on Namjoon’s face for any reactions. “They’re raised by betas specially trained for the job. We never know our parents. For the majority of our early lives we’re just taught over and over again the importance of submitting and…and how to carry out our mah-mating duties.”

He pauses here, takes a deep breath. He has broken thousands of rules already. A few more aren’t going to change his fate.

Jimin can nearly hear Namjoon’s brain whirring as it processes this information. “They separate you from family to take away your sense of loyalty to them,” the wise leader guesses, and Jimin confirms this with a nod.

“We never learn our parents’ scents. They don’t recognize ours by the time we’re of mating age. Before I presented, my entire youth was spent caring for incoming omegas and training them how to be the perfect mate. And when I turned 16—” He needs to stop again, to steady his rattling bones. Though wrapped up in a blanket, though the season is high summer, he is cold to the core.

Namjoon sees this. “Do you need me to warm you?” he asks hesitantly.

Jimin tightens his shaking jaw, shakes his head once, hair falling into his eyes. He bulldozes on. “I presented when I was 16. For the first time ever, I was allowed to enter the village square, where the adult hybrids live. The first alpha to set claim to an omega gets to mate them, and that’s how I ended up with—with my mate. I was his third.”

There’s a slight whistling noise as Namjoon inhales through his teeth. “The others, they were still alive?”

“Yes. We lived altogether in one hut. Our alpha had his own. Whenever he…” A shiver runs up his spine, shaking his entire being. When he recollects himself, he goes on. “Whenever he wanted one of us, he would call us to his hut. I had trained for being a mate my entire existence, but he wasn’t like the alphas they had told me about, nothing like the alphas I had told the younger ones about. We know alphas are scary, but Lee—”

He freezes.

Jimin’s eyes widen as he refocuses on Namjoon’s face, looking for any signs that he had caught that slip up. But the leader’s expression is unreadable. Eyes narrow, brows scrunched together, lips in a straight line, he simply looks like he’s hanging on to every word, but nothing to give away his feelings.

“He was scarier than anything I’d ever heard,” Jimin continues, slower this time, weighing his every word and running it twice through his brain before uttering. “My time with him was always rough. He wanted things from me I never trained for.”

“Did you ever refuse?” Namjoon can’t help but wonder.

“At first. At first, when I was confused, I dared to. But it only made him angry. He would use his imposition to make me submit. In the end he always got what he wanted from me. From us.”

“Did he treat his other mates the same?”

Jimin shrugs. “We never discussed it. It wasn’t allowed. And at the time I was the youngest, too afraid to overstep my boundaries with the elder omegas. But they did comfort me wh—when I came back.”

“Forgive me if I’m overstepping with my questions, Jimin. You don’t have to answer any of them if you don’t want to. You’re already giving me enough. But you said you were the youngest _at that time_ …”

“He took on a fourth mate,” Jimin sighs, eyes casting down. “Another newly presented omega. The entire time I lived with him I—I thought something was wrong with me. Nothing about my bond with my mate was anything like how I’d been taught. I never felt—felt love towards him. I never felt a sense of absolute loyalty. I feared him. I hated whenever I was him. But when he found someone better than me, I…I finally felt something.

Neglected. I wanted his attention so bad. Always was the first to greet him when he visited our hut. I began to…to give him without his needing to ask. I knew it was the effects of our shared mark, but I couldn’t help myself. My body would act on its own sometimes…”

“The fault of our biology,” Namjoon hums, understanding exactly what Jimin is trying to express. “We have two parts to us. Our animal side and our human side. Lack of free will. That’s the detriment of our evolution.”

That has to be it, Jimin thinks. When one part of him wants one thing, but his body wants another. Fault. Detriment. Those are words he knows. This alpha, at least, gets him.

“I hated myself every time,” he admits, eyes boring into Namjoon’s. “I felt like I wasn’t myself, throwing myself at his feet. Begging for his attention, his affection…”

“It’s not your fault.”

Jimin swallows back the emotions threatening to burst out. He had only told one other person of the battle within him—his beta friend, Jung Hoseok. He had trusted only him his entire life. But even then, even as he betrayed his alpha while still under his control, he never got emotional. He was just angry. Disgusted. Telling Namjoon is stirring different feelings within him, ones he can’t place. Ones that make him want to throw himself into the alpha’s large arms and cry. Cry to his heart’s content, and plead. Plead for his understanding, for his forgiveness at having betrayed someone from the alpha class.

But Namjoon had said no apologies, and being around the Kim Pack this long has taught him that he did not owe any alpha anything. So he bites back his sorry and presses on.

“One night my alpha made a request. It was a ridiculous request.” The memory makes his blood boil. “H-he asked me to…to service him while the new omega…watched.”

Namjoon cannot help but think that Jimin’s mate knew exactly what he was doing. No omega can stand the scent of another on their mate. It stirs something wild, something grossly possessive. The same goes for alphas. Throughout Jimin’s story Namjoon wonders if this alpha got off on the pain of omegas, and this…this right here confirms that.

“He said he wanted the omega to watch, to learn. But their scent was all over my alpha’s hut. All over my alpha. It was killing me. It—it made me feel and think things I never would have. And when I refused, my alpha didn’t even blink. The next thing I knew I was doing exactly what he wanted while the other watched. He made me submit.”

There is an overwhelming tug in his muscles to reach out and comfort Jimin, despite the omega no longer seeming like he needs it, but Namjoon holds himself back. Fingers in fists in his lap, he says, “I’m so sorry, Jimin.” That monster is everything Namjoon had fought against. His type was the reason the revolution had sprung up all that time ago. And though Namjoon knows the fight had not brought about the change the rebellion wanted to see in the world, it pains and angers him to the deepest recesses of his being that hybrids like that still exist to this day.

“I thought you said not to apologize unless it’s for something undeniably horrendous,” Jimin tells him, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of the his lips.

Namjoon exhales with a chuckle, his fists loosening as he absently runs a hand back through his hair. The fact that Jimin has it in him to make a joke in the middle of baring these ugly truths only proves to Namjoon what he has always known; omegas are so much stronger than anyone gives them credit for.

“How did you manage to escape your pack?”

“The day after that…incident…I told a friend of mine everything. He’s a beta, so there aren’t always eyes on him. He’s seen other packs before, he knew there were better places, better people, outside our territory. So, he helped me sneak out of my hut that night. I told me which direction to run, and I did. I just ran and ran, and then my—” His heat had hit. It was unexpected, off schedule, but Jimin is well passed the stage of questioning his rotten luck. It has always been this way. “I kept moving for as long as I could, but I guess at some point I blacked out. And you—” He looks up then, eyes catching on Namjoon’s, swimming with something that wasn’t quite tears. “You found me.”

Namjoon remembers the person he used to be before he had an entire pack depending on him. He was just one reckless hybrid infuriated by the class system betas and omegas were subjected to. He hated seeing the derogatory treatment of his mother and friends. He had vowed to make a change somehow. And although he wasn’t able to bring about the change he sought, he at least can play a minuscule role in the advancement of betas and omegas.

“Jimin,” he begins, voice dripping with the utmost sincerity. “I will do everything in my power to make sure you live as fulfilling a life as you can here. I can’t promise a perfect pack, but I can at least promise that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally figured out how to link shit, so follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Moonfairy96) if you wanna get wip updates until the next post, or if you wanna just talk or whatever :D see yall next Friday
> 
> EDIT: hi guys. I feel weird for what I'm about to say, but I just have a small request. If you do enjoy the story, please give it a kudos/comment. I've seen the interaction grow over the past few days (with the hits), but I have no idea if those reading it like it. Maybe all those ppl who clicked on it did in fact not like it, but just a reminder: comments & kudos keep an author alive

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo...? How was it? Good enough for me to continue? Feel free to sound off.  
> Also, you can find me on twitter (Moonfairy96), so follow there for updates on upcoming chapters and progress and such (IDK how to link shit here, please help). I don't tweet much when I'm not working on a fic, but when I am (as I am now), then maybe you'll get to see deleted scenes, behind my writing process, bits of upcoming chapters, and so on. And you can yell at me there instead :))
> 
> FYI if you plan on sticking around, chapters start short, and then get really long. Like...really long.
> 
> I'm also MOONFAIRY96 on twt if you wanna follow me there ☺


End file.
